Delhi: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi is discovering there's a flip side to famous victories. His triumphant splitting of the state BJP has also brought him to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government's notice, and the results are beginning to show. Madhya Pradesh Governor Bhai Mahavir, a man with strong saffron leanings, has been despatched to take temporary charge of the state since Governor Dinesh Nandan Sahaya is out of the way in Delhi recovering from a heart surgery. Relations between the two haven't begun in bonhomie: Jogi first refused to send a state aircraft to Bhopal, then called on President K.R. Narayanan to protest against Mahavir's appointment. Now he's even asked Sahaya to come home and forget his heart.

Hard Kaur Factionalism

Chandigarh: Just when the Congress had begun to make corruption in the Akali Dal-BJP ranks its poll plank, the plank got shaky. Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, former Punjab chief minister and prominent Congress leader, is under investigation by the Vigilance Department for allegedly misappropriating Rs 20 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. A court case could well be filed against her before election time. Bhattal hopes to escape loss of votes by calling the case "political vendetta" by the Badal Government. Not surprisingly most of those smiling at her discomfiture are party rival Captain Amrinder Singh's supporters. Oh factionalism...

Babu Thinks Divine

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is arming himself with a new health and security cover these days. He has begun carrying a lemon as a talisman to ward off evil, for better health and for success in the New Year. His effort to woo Dame Luck is aimed at the Hyderabad mayoral election in January and dissidence in the TDP. It seems to run in the family. Naidu's father-in-law, the late N.T. Rama Rao, was a superstition junkie too.