Standoff between Rajnath, Jaitley refuses to die

The standoff in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the appointment of a party businessman to a crucial post persisted today with general secretary Arun Jaitley and president Rajnath Singh firmly sticking to their positions.

Jaitley, who had yesterday kept away from a meeting of the Central Election Committee to register his protest over the appointment of Sudhanshu Mittal, a protege of late Pramod Mahajan, today shared the dais with Singh at the party headquarters where senior leader LK Advani was also present. Jaitley arrived late for the function but was also the first to leave the venue at the end of it before reporters should shoot questions.

He and Singh did not acknowledge each other’s presence throughout the function to release the IT Vision document.

Sources said Singh was in no mood to relent on the issue of Mittal’s appointment as co-convener of the party in the north-east. Mittal is said to have been instrumental in bringing around the Asom Gana Parishad.