New Delhi, Mar 17: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley skipped the second party central election committee, slated to decide candidates from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh for the forthcoming general elections.

According to sources, party Vice President Venkaiah Naidu failed to convince Jaitley to attend the meeting.

Jaitley is protesting against the appointment of businessman Sudhanshu Mittal, by party President Rajnath Singh, as the party''''s co-incharge to oversee poll preparations in northeastern states.

The CEC meeting, chaired by Rajnath Singh, was attended by senior leaders LK Advani, Venkaiah Naidu, Narendra Modi, Sushma Swaraj, Gopinath Munde and Bal Apte.

Jaitley has said that he is asking for the removal of Mittal on "moral" grounds, given the businessman''''s controversial image.

However, Rajnath dismissed his claims saying that the appointment was made after consulting party''''s prime ministerial candidate, L. K. Advani. He has indicated that he is in no mood to accede to the demand, and even held a meeting with Mittal on Monday night to discuss election strategy. (ANI)