Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi kept away from his party's campaign in poll-bound Uttarakhand and Punjab, despite being touted as one of BJP's main campaigners.
Assembly elections will be held in both the states on January 30, for which campaigning ended yesterday.
Modi, however, did not visit the two states during this period.
Modi, dubbed by some in BJP as prime ministerial material, was expected to be one of the main campaigners in the five states where Assembly polls are due.
But his absence in polling states like Punjab and Uttarakhand, the two states where BJP is in power, has raised a question mark on whether he would hit the campaign trail in Uttar Pradesh, where a pitched battle is on between prominent parties.
His bete noire and former BJP General Secretary Sanjay Joshi is one of the key leaders involved in the party's UP campaign.
Modi had also stayed away from the last BJP National Executive reportedly because he was sulking over BJP president Nitin Gadkari's decision to bring back Joshi into the party.
Modi was also said to be unhappy with senior leader L K Advani for kicking off his anti-corruption yatra from Bihar instead of Gujarat.
