Dev Kant Baruah must be smiling in his resting place. The man who was panned across the nation for his now infamous "Indira is India" slogan must be amused that the trend has caught on so wildly. And it is not just his Grand Old Party but even the BJP that is infected by sycophancy. This was clear when Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Congress President Sonia Gandhi hit the electoral trail.

WAVE OF GLORY: Vajpayee at a rally of the BJP workers held in New Delhi

Barely hours after the 13th Lok Sabha was dissolved the road show for the 14th was on. There was a "road show" and then there was a "rail show". Hitting the road trail was Sonia. In three days, she traversed 370 km along the winding roads of eastern Uttar Pradesh in a sparkling silver Tata Safari, crisscrossing six districts comprising eight Lok Sabha constituencies in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Not far away, gun-toting police personnel stood on rooftops and on either side of the railway track from Kotare to Ayodhya as a slow-speed train trundled along, carrying a very, very special passenger. For 13 years, Vajpayee had steered clear of Faizabad and the controversy that surrounds its twin town of Ayodhya, but this past week he was back kicking off the BJP-NDA's campaign for the impending elections. He reaffirmed the party's commitment towards building the temple for Lord Ram. A day earlier BJP leaders had deified him like no other leader in the Parivar. Uma Bharati came out with a new Hindu trinity "Brahma" Advani, "Vishnu" Vajpayee and "Mahesh" Naidu.

ACT OF LOVE: Sonia with villagers at Rudrapur in Deoria

In eastern Uttar Pradesh, once a Congress stronghold and now a graveyard for any Congressman foolhardy enough to file nominations, Sonia's supporters urged her "Matajee kuchh boliye". Sonia obliged: "Aapke paas aawaz hai, chunau aanewala hai, is awaaz ka istemal kar janata virodhi sarkar ko ukhadh phenkiye." As with Vajpayee, Sonia's 370-km road show was lined with people and high decibel "Lachar sarkar ab jayegi, lehar Congress ki ayeegi" to "dispel" any feel- good factor here and followed it with "Gaon gaon mein uthi pukar, Sonia Gandhi bahu hamaar" for good effect.

It is early but signs foretell a continuation of this deification. The polite may call it the result of a cult factor. Political pundits may call it icon worship but the truth is the trail smells of good old sycophancy that refuses to die.

V A J P A Y E E   S T Y L E	S O N I A   F A C T O R
"In our party, workers work their way to leadership. Nobody is born a leader." A.B. VAJPAYEE, PRIME MINISTER, IN NEW DELHI	"Congress party ko laoongi, desh ko bachaoongi." SONIA GANDHI,CONGRESS PRESIDENT, IN GORAKHPUR 17,388 Km
RENT A SLOGAN "Vajpayee: statesman India adores and the world admires." THE BJP CATCHWORD	RENT A SLOGAN "Vajpayee: statesman India adores and the world admires." THE BJP CATCHWORD
MILOMETER 17,388 Km Vajpayee criss-crossed the nation from Bhuj to ranchi and is ahead of Sonia	MILOMETER 10,654 Km Sonia has travelled more within Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra 10,654 Km
ACCOLADES FOR HIM	IN PRAISE OF SONIA
"Please give us the Banke Behari of Vrindavan." UMA BHARATI, CHIEF MINISTER, MP "Vajpayee is the only secular prime minister." S.S. HUSAIN, UNION MINISTER "For STs Vajpayee did the most after Mahatma." S.P. GAUTAM, UNION MINISTER	"Desh ki bahu Sonia will be the prime minister." LALOO YADAV, RJD PRESIDENT "Sonia Gandhi is the only hope for people." JAGADAMBIKA PAL, UPCC PRESIDENT "She can liberate India from NDA's misrule." S.K. SAHAY, AICC SECRETARY