No end in sight to Jaitley-Rajnath tiff

15 Mar 2009
NEW DELHI: BJP leader Arun Jaitley's revolt against party president Rajnath Singh over his decision to appoint controversial businessman Sudhanshu Mittal as in-charge of Assam and other north-eastern states shows no signs of blowing over with the party general secretary sticking to his guns.

BJP circles and media attention were focused on the Jaitley-Singh spat as the high-profile BJP general secretary initially kept away from a party function organised for the launch of a new-look website and a IT "vision" document. He arrived late and shared the dais with Singh and other senior leaders but made it clear he was not backtracking. "It is loyal but principled opposition," sources close to Jaitley said as they stressed that his continuing engagement with important projects should not be seen as a sign of any backtracking on the issue at hand.

Jaitley said he had spoken to BJP leader L K Advani on Saturday morning and had dropped in at the party office on his urging. He made it evident that he had no intention of attending meetings of the party central election committee headed by Singh until Mittal's appointment was rescinded. As of now there are no signs that Singh is in any mood to oblige.

With the Jaitley rebellion hitting the party just as it ought to be gearing up for full-fledged campaigning, the election committee has put off its next meeting till March 17. It is unclear whether matters will be sorted out till then even as former BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu acknowledged to the media in Bangalore that Jaitley had raised "an issue" which needed to be resolved. Efforts at reconciliation with RSS leaders like Suresh Soni meeting Jaitley have failed with the general secretary maintaining that Mittal's appointment be undone.

How the stand-off would be tackled by BJP seniors and RSS is being watched closely as it would indicate how far Singh can go in naming his supporters to important party posts in a unilateral manner. His camp has claimed that Advani was consulted on the appointments but there is no such confirmation forthcoming from BJP's senior-most leader.

It is being pointed out that arguments being advanced -- that Asom Gana Parishad had "requested" Mittal's appointment as coordinator -- are not really convincing. Given that AGP was more than keen to tie-up with BJP, the regional outfit could hardly have made Mittal a make-or-break issue. Though most voices other than Jaitley have been muted, the sudden elevation of the businessman has raised eyebrows.

Mittal was seen to be an "influential" person who could get things done during the NDA regime due to his proximity to the late Pramod Mahajan. Running a large and successful business, he has been quite prepared to be useful to party leaders who have turned to him for various material needs. Operating from an apartment block near Jantar Mantar, he has been a steady fixture in the Capital's power circuit.

As Singh looks to consolidate his hold on the party — and hang on to office once his term ends soon after the elections — he has found it convenient to co-opt allies like Mittal who want to break into the party organisation. The bid by some of Singh's followers to plug for an "extended" term for him on the specious plea that polls would interrupt BJP's organisational elections clearly points to what he has in mind.

The crisis is a test for RSS as well since Singh has been able to play factional faultlines in the Sangh quite adroitly in the past. There are clear signs of many RSS leaders getting disillusioned with their choice. However, with some of them still wary of making a decisive intervention on behalf of Jaitley, it not clear if the Sangh will be able to take a unified view on the matter. As has been the case for several years now, RSS has lacked a decisive political vision for BJP and has failed to clearly lay down the hierarchy in the party.