Delhi:When incessant rains forced Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to drop his campaign tour to Agra and Bareilly, he called over some journalists who were meant to accompany him ostensibly to set some records straight. First he joked that "the tour was bound to be cancelled if he went to Agra and Bareilly on the same day" (both towns have mental asylums). Later he casually asked about the public perception to his reference to Sonia Gandhi as videshi mahila. He then clarified: "It was not an off-the-cuff remark. I was fed up with the insinuating speeches being made. Though I had more masala, I did not want to sound harsh."Oriya? Oh No

Oriya? Oh No

Bhubaneswar: Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik should be lucky that he did not have to begin with grasroots politics. The fact is he is not entitled to become even a member of the zilla parishad in the state that he now rules. Recently the nominations of two Congress candidates for the coming panchayat elections was rejected on the grounds that they did not know Oriya. Fortunately for Patnaik, the rule does not apply to chief ministers.

Old Foes New Friends

Delhi: Priyanka Vadra was sorely missed by Uttar Pradesh Congressmen this time when she opted not to campaign for the party. But the story goes that Congress President Sonia Gandhi's aides decided the assembly elections were not the right time to unleash Priyanka as the party was expected to fare badly. So the party is salting away her and her mother for better times. That explains why RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav held more rallies in Uttar Pradesh for the Congress than even Sonia. Is there a better rallying force for the Congress?

Security Recheck

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu may be insecure about his job but his revamped office should ward off all other security worries. Now he sits in a bullet-proof office whose doors are reinforced with thick steel sheets. All this was done while the techno-savvy chief minister was away on a 10-day foreign tour to woo investors to the state. So is Naidu feeling more secure now?

English, Indian

Delhi: At a recent seminar that lamented the decline of Urdu education, an anguished delegate asked Rajya Sabha member Fali S. Nariman if English-which does not figure in the Eighth Schedule-was an Indian language. "Yes," replied the eminent jurist to a stunned audience. "At least in the way we speak it," he added and had everyone in splits. He admitted that he couldn't speak in any language other than English.

TREMORS What the Stars Foretold for Parties
	Amitabh Bachchan: He is the Samajwadi Party's biggest mascot and BJP's biggest worry.
	Govinda: Chhote Miyan scored for the Congress with the usual song 'n' dance fare.
	Poonam Dhillon: The former star rooted for the Congress in Punjab and was a bit of a draw.
	Hema Malini: BJP's dreamy campaigner and NFDC chairperson may be in a bit of a legal spot.