Former prime minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee will campaign for the party in Bhagalpur on Thursday for the Bihar assembly polls next month.

Vajpayee will be the first top party leader to campaign in the state. Other leaders like party president Lal Kishenchand Advani and Uma Bharti will visit Bihar on January 28.

Vajpayee will return to New Delhi after addressing an election rally in Bhagalpur, BJP sources said.

They said he would make two more visits to Bihar to campaign for the second and third phase of the polls.

Meanwhile, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will begin her campaign on January 31.

Sources in the party office in Patna said she would campaign in Bhojpur and Bhagalpur districts. "She will only address rallies. There is no plan for road shows," a Congress leader said.

Two senior party leaders, Jagdish Tytler and Wasim Ahmed, visited Patna two days ago to review the arrangements for her visit.