By IANS,
New Delhi : Arun Jaitley, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary and chief strategist, Thursday attended a poll panel meeting at party president Rajnath Singh’s residence, in what appeared to be an exercise to paper over the much discussed cracks in the party.
A miffed Jaitley had reportedly been staying away from key meetings of the party after Rajnath Singh appointed businessman Sudhanshu Mittal as the co-convenor for the Lok Sabha campaign in the north-east.
The lawyer-politician drove down to Rajnath Singh’s home Thursday morning to decide on the candidates for Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat and Bihar.
“Jaitley has been working for the party all day. But the issue is still to be resolved. Jaitley does not want the fight to be reduced to personal vendetta and will not lose his moral high position by getting into accusations,” a Jaitley confidante said.
Jaitley, who is in charge of the party’s election campaign, has made his displeasure about Mittal’s appointment known to frontline leaders and wants him removed.
He is learnt to have said he would not attend any election committee meetings of the party till Mittal was removed and skipped the March 13 discussions. Rajnath Singh snubbed Jaitley Monday by meeting Mittal to discuss the party’s poll strategy.
Mittal, a close associate of the late party leader Pramod Mahajan, is said to have played a key role in finalising the seat-sharing agreement with the Asom Gana Parishad in Assam.