Delhi: K.N. Govindacharya, the BJP's inhouse jholawalla dissident, clarified his sabbatical to journalists over the past week. He also decided to hit out at the "coat and tie" culture in the party. Only three cabinet members qualify: Arun Jaitley, most seen in a coat and tie; Pramod Mahajan, recently converted to a coat and tie; Arun Shourie, who combines a coat and tie with, no doubt to Govindji's chagrin, selling PSUs.

Arresting Popularity

Bhubaneswar: Daredevilry apparently is not hereditary. Unlike pilot father Biju Patnaik, Naveen does not venture out even in his own state without an extensive security drill, complete with preventive arrests. Earlier in the new year, when the chief minister went on an inauguration spree in the run up to the panchayat elections, the police rounded up possible trouble makers, Congressmen in most cases and in large numbers. But safety comes at a price. Though Naveen's public meetings passed off peacefully without the rabblerousers, it were the rival "political activists" who gained in stature following their arrests.

Royal Prisoner

Patna: Bail or jail, nothing can stop RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav from theatrics. In Beur Model Jail and supposedly seriously ill, the "raja of Bihar" invited all and sundry, including ministers, to celebrate Makar Sankranti and dole out "dahi-chura". The show was co-hosted by Minister of State for Jails Ashok Chaudhary, who proudly took the guests around a prison park called Laloo Udyan, named after Beur Jail's frequent, high-profile inmate. Maybe JD(U) leader Laxmi Sahu has a point in seeking Laloo's transfer to a Ranchi jail, in BJP-ruled Jharkhand.

J Queen

Chennai: Buoyed by legal victories, AIADMK General Secretary J. Jayalalithaa is back to her imperious ways. So much so that her allies of the 2001 assembly election victory have deserted her in the run up to the assembly by-polls. TMC pulled out of the combine when the late G.K. Moopanar's Rajya Sabha seat was not given to his son G.K. Vasan but to Jaya acolyte V. Maithreyan. The Congress could not stomach the insult when the Vaniyambadi assembly seat was similarly usurped. Finally, the PMK is back with the DMK and the queen of Poes Garden has retreated to stately solitude.