New Delhi: The rift is out in the open. On Tuesday, BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley skipped the meeting of the party's Central Election Committee (CEC).
The meeting was being held to finalise Lok Sabha candidates for the states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
The CEC meeting, chaired by BJP President Rajnath Singh, was attended by senior leaders L K Advani, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj, Gopinath Munde and Bal Apte.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi also attended the meeting.
The differences between Jaitley and Rajnath Singh came out in the open Friday when the General Secretary skipped a key meeting of the party's central election committee.
Jaitley, in charge of the party's Lok Sabha election campaign, is reportedly miffed over Rajnath Singh's move to appoint Mittal as in-charge of the poll campaign in Assam and joint in-charge of campaign in the Northeast without consulting him. He wants Mittal removed from the post.
Mittal is said to have played a key role in finalising the seat-sharing agreement with the Asom Gana Parishad in Assam.
Using his money power and networking skills, Mittal - Delhi's biggest tentwallah - has managed to become the party's incharge of the Northeast, something Jaitely is against. Jaitely sees him as a wheeler-dealer kind of a person.
Jaitley, meanwhile, has made it clear that he would not attend the meetings of the CEC till his demand is met.
He skipped the earlier meeting of CEC on March 13. Efforts to mollify him have proved futile.
The BJP President, who has appointed Mittal - a close associate of late party leader Pramod Mahajan - to the post, has also refused to go back on his decision.
Party sources say Advani - with the help of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh - was making an effort to resolve the differences between Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley.
The BJP's prime ministerial candidate has said that these are internal, minor matters that will be sorted out soon.
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