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Sushil Shinde, the candidate for the Vice Presidency put up by the Congress and some of the opposition parties may get more votes in his bag than what his election managers have calculated and banking upon. The windfall may be from some of the MPs whose votes, according to their party’s policy, should go to the BJP candidate, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. There is talk that some of the Members of Parliament, unhappy with the policies of the BJP may show their ‘displeasure’ by casting their votes in favour of Shinde. For example, it is being said that Mamata Bannerjee, whose campaign against the bifurcation of the Eastern Railway Zone and shifting part of it to Bihar, is gaining momentum in West Bengal, may vote against the official BJP candidate, although her party, as a part of the coalition, would be expected to go with Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Then there is the Samata Party, which might vote for Shinde for the opposite reason, that is, if the Eastern Railway is not bifurcated. Shinde’s position therefore is like the Hindi saying "Donon haathon mein ladoo’. (He has good fortune on both sides). Then there is Jayalalitha who seems to be sulking after she was ignored by the Government by its failure to invite her for the swearing in of President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. Though unofficially it has been stated to have occurred because of a ‘babu blunder’, Jayalalitha has taken it to heart and feels that she has been deliberately slighted. Against this background, her votes too might go to Shinde. The other unpredictable factor is Mayawati who is reluctant to cast her vote in favour of a candidate when he is opposed by another from her own caste. So, all said and done, it is most likely that Shinde may get more votes that even he is depending on. Will the BJP apple cart be upset? Only time will tell.

It is common talk in the corridors of power in the national capital that Brajesh Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, had played a major role in the removal of Jaswant Singh from the External Affairs Ministry. Jaswant Singh does not seem to have forgotten this. And he got a chance to hit back at Brajesh Mishra during the visit of U. S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. Insisting on strict protocol, Mishra had made it clear that the visiting dignitary, because of his rank, should meet only External Affairs Minister Yeshwant Sinha. But Powell wanted to meet Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister and Union Home Minister L. K. Advani too. He called up Jaswant Singh, an old friend, and communicated his desire to him. Jaswant Singh pulled the right strings and his efforts resulted in Powell meeting Vajpayee for nearly half an hour, despite the Prime Minister’s heavy schedule. They talked on various issues, including Indo-Pak relations. Advani too made time for Powell. When some journalists tried to provoke Jaswant Singh by telling him: "Singh Sahab, aap ka to jawab nahin". (There is no match for you), he replied, with his usual trademark smile: "Yeh sab politics mein hota hai". (All is fair in politics). The political grapevine in the capital has it that Jaswant Singh had not only succeeded in trumping Brijesh Mishra but was also on the lookout for further opportunities to do so.

After the different kinds of threatening noises that Farooq Abdullah has been making following the failure to propel himself into the Vice Presidential chair, the Centre seems determined to take him up on them. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his team appear to have chalked out a plan to outwit and ‘decentralise’ him. Having turned down his ‘autonomy’ issue and put it in cold storage, the Centre has now shifted the ‘mediatory’ attention to Farooq’s relative and former chief minister, J. M. Shah. Having completed one round of talks between the Centre’s Kashmir interlocutor Arun Jaitley and Shah and with some kind deal in the offing, plans seem to be afoot to implement it, which could eventually isolate Farooq. Simultaneously, taking the game plan one step more forward, the Centre is opening up several ‘dialogue’ fronts with other J & K leaders which would enable them to share some of the limelight and cut Farooq down to size. The forthcoming State Assembly elections is being seen as an opportunity by the Centre as a stick to beat Farooq with. Perhaps this is the reason why the demand for Governor’s Rule in the State is coming from different quarters.

When the Creator was distributing wit among human beings, it seems as if Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh was twice in the line and thus got a double quota. He never misses a chance to come up with a one-liner that not only sends his listeners into splits of laughter but also has different kinds of meanings for different people. When Congress Vice Presidential nominee Sushil Shinde went to file his nomination papers, the opposition members were present in full strength displaying their ‘moral support’ to the hilt. However, the presence of Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh baffled many and failing to work out the mathematics’ of the situation, one enterprising journalist popped the question. Amar Singh was quick on the uptake: "Jab baadh aati hai, tab saanp aur aadmi ek hi ped par latakte hain’. (When there is a flood, human beings and snakes take refuge on the same branch of a tree). Though the answer raised peals of laughter in the hall, most of the people there could not figure out who was the ‘saanp’ and who the ‘aadmi’.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Bharatiya Janata Party want to make amends for the ‘humiliation’ they unwittingly created for former Maharashtra Governor P. C. Alexander by first shouting from the rooftops that he would be their candidate for President and then bypassing him. Though he has not said it in specific terms, Alexander seems to have taken umbrage at the ‘humiliation’ and subsequently resigned the Governorship to enter the Rajya Sabha. Now having become a Member of Parliament, the party is trying to persuade the Prime Minister to make Alexander the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. This would pay off in two ways. Not only would it soften the anger of Alexander but his ‘goodwill’ would be of help to the party in many other ways. Having worked with several Congress governments as a bureaucrat, Alexander might help the BJP to spell out ways to outwit the Congress on many issues related to public affairs. However, it remains to be seen whether Alexander "is willing".

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