The Hindu : Front Page : Jaitley, Rajnath patch up but Mittal will stay

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Jaitley, Rajnath patch up but Mittal will stay

Neena Vyas

No compromise on decision-making process in organisation

Sudhanshu Mittal rules out resignation
Jaitley had not attended meetings since March 13

Photo: AFP

IN PEACE MODE: Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh (left) and party general secretary Arun Jaitley in conversation after a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. —

NEW DELHI: There were signs on Thursday of a patch-up between Bharatiya Janata Party chief Rajnath Singh and party general secretary Arun Jaitley, with the latter turning up at the former’s residence for a meeting to discuss candidates for Delhi, Bihar, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.

However, there was no sign of the BJP giving in to Mr. Jaitley’s demand for removal of businessman Sudhanshu Mittal from his post as one of those in charge of the political affairs of the northeastern States.

There is some talk, mostly by those close to Mr. Jaitley, that some compromise could be worked out.

Mr. Mittal, who was conducting an election management committee meeting in Assam on Thursday, reiterated over telephone that no one had asked him to resign. Nor was he thinking of doing so.

Mr. Jaitley was not able to have his way on the Darbhanga seat in Bihar. He wanted Legislative Council member Sanjay Jha to get the ticket. Instead, the former cricketer, Kirti Azad, was declared the party candidate.

And again in Delhi, where he was understood to be opposing Vijay Goel for the New Delhi seat — he wanted him to contest from Chandni Chowk — Mr. Jaitley was not able to have his way.

Mr. Goel was close to the late Pramod Mahajan, and that, party sources said, was the reason for Mr. Jaitley’s dislike of him.

Protesting against Mr. Mittal’s appointment, Mr. Jaitley had not been attending the central election committee meetings, chaired by Mr. Rajnath Singh, since March 13. He, however, had been talking to Mr. Singh on the telephone and attending meetings at the residence of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani.

It seems, after a clear signal was sent out by the party that the decision-making process in the organisation would not be compromised because one leader or another did not like a particular decision, Mr. Jaitley decided to go soft on the issue. He has not spoken to the press directly, but sometimes he spoke through persons in the party considered close to him.

The party’s selection of candidates is almost complete. It has already declared about 320 candidates and needs to finalise some 50 to 80 more. And everyone in the party has said that despite the open rift, Mr. Jaitley has been attending to all election-related work assigned to him.

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