SLIP-UP IN THE DESERT CHILL

The fledgling BJP government in Rajasthan, with a debutant chief minister, was still learning to walk when it hit the bumps. January 8 brought a particularly embarrassing setback when newly minted minister Surendarpal Singh T.T. lost in the byelection for the Karanpur assembly seat.

- Rohit Parihar

Elections were adjourned here because of the death of the original Congress candidate. But if the BJP thought having its own regime would make the seat a cinch, it was not to be. After the 72-year-old Surendarpal lost to the new Congress candidate, 43-yearold Rupinder Singh Kooner, a visibly stunned state BJP chief C.P. Joshi was heard mumbling to reporters: "We will analyse the reasons for the defeat." The defeat is widely seen as a sign of the people's disapproval of the way BJP has gone about government formation. It took the party a month after the results came out on December 3 to complete the process, and from the choice of the CM to ministers to bureaucrats, every move so far suggests the Centre will be lording it over the state. As expected, many local leaders and the masses have not reacted well to the new situation.