THE FAITHFUL AND THE FLATTERERS: WHEN OFFICIALS GOT IT WRONG AND POLITICIANS PAID THE PRICE

The afternoon of the counting dayin 1998, Bhopal was tense.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

Digvijaya Singh's Congress government had beenstrug-gling with serious anti-in-cumbency. The roads were terrible, power cuts were frequent, and people were angry. The BJP had sensed an opportunity and put together a strong team—Sun-derlal Patwa, Kailash Joshi, and Vikram Verma, who was being projected as the next Chief Minister. There was no pollsters, exit polls and fora politician to gauge what voters were thinking needed a certain mastery.

At Patwa’s residence that day, there was an unusual amount of activity. Officials were coming and going, and among them were an Additional Secretary and an Additional DGP long considered as someone who were in the good books of Digvijaya. What happened next was revealing. As these officials left, they touched Patwa’s feet and sought his blessings, assuring him that the BJP was coming to power. Incidentally this was the first election in Madhya Pradesh where EVMs were used , in three constituencies.