REBEL ROUSED: Bharati hears notes of dissidence

BHOPAL After Gujarat, it seems rebel raj has set in in Madhya Pradesh too. Chief Minister Uma Bharati is facing trouble with the state leadership-read state BJP President Kailash Joshi and Bharati's bete noire Sumitra Mahajan-over her style of functioning. While Joshi ensured that all efforts to instal Prahlad Patel as home minister were nipped in the bud, Mahajan raised a storm over the appointment of 10 of Bharati's favourites as chairmen of various state bodies.

When Bharati was advised by the central leadership to take the state unit into confidence, she retorted that "it is not her business to strike a balance between the party and Government". Call it reining in or compromise formula, the impending cabinet reshuffle was put off but so was the party diktat to ministers to report for the Janata durbar.

Mahajan then opened another front by refusing to endorse a proposal to praise Bharati for her "resignation", saying that the state leadership's permission to do so was not sought. By striking at Bharati's pride, Mahajan has shown that dissidence will be the disorder of the day.

-By Neeraj Mishra

She Factor

DELHI Congress President Sonia Gandhi is a real stickler for women's rights. While choosing the team of Union ministers from the Congress, she refused to consider former Orissa chief minister Giridhar Gamang because he had lobbied hard to deny a party ticket for his estranged wife and former MP Hema. Gamang even got their son to speak to the CEC against Hema, much to Sonia's displeasure. So she gave him the ticket but no ministership. The result: Orissa is unrepresented at the Centre.

-By Lakshmi Iyer

The High Flyer Bites the Dust

Where's the fizz? Mallya

BANGALORE The king of good times has realised that garnering vote share is not as easy as cornering the beer market. Business tycoon Vijay Mallya, 48, was hoping to become Karnataka chief minister. As head of the Janata Party he fielded a total of 155 candidates for the 224-strong Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections. The average age of the candidates was 41 years. They contested in all 27 districts of Karnataka. Mallya, who campaigned in style in his Mercedes Benz, his aeroplane and chopper, was hopeful of a clear majority.

"I am sure that we will sweep to power with an overwhelming mandate in the next elections," he had claimed, displaying the sword of Tipu Sultan, which he had picked up at an auction in London. But on May 13, all that Mallya managed was two assembly seats-that too from Andhra Pradesh-not his home state. Mallya admits he failed "because of road blocks created by people in the party who had personal ambitions". The bottom line: The high flyer has been brought down to earth, literally.

-By Stephen David

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