Modi, not Vajpayee, to campaign in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal, Nov 7 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Hema Malini, Smriti Irani and a host of others will campaign for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh. A key absentee will be former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is not keeping good health.

For the first time in the electoral history of Madhya Pradesh, the people will miss Vajpayee's normally gripping speeches.

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The party is banking on stars and party leaders such as Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna, Navjot Singh Siddhu and Smriti Irani. They are among the party's 40 listed star campaigners whose names were submitted to the Election Commission Friday.

BJP's prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani, party president Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar and Sushma Swaraj will also campaign for candidates in Madhya Pradesh.

Six chief ministers, including Madhya Pradesh's Shivraj Singh Chouhan, will also hit the campaign trail. Other chief ministers include Narendra Modi (Gujarat), B.S. Yeddyurappa (Karnataka), Prem Kumar Dhumal (Himachal Pradesh) and B.C. Khanduri (Uttarakhand).