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		Virendra Kapoor

	The most inseparable duo in Indian politics in recent years has virtually split. Bahujan Samaj Party founder president Kanshi Ram and his trusted companion and number two, Mayawati, have gone their separate ways. Not only are they not together any more, but sharp differences have cropped up between the two over crucial political issues. While Mayawati has grown in stature ever since she became chief minister of Uttar Pradesh some years ago, Kanshi Ram has suffered a sharp erosion in his public standing during almost the same period. His advancing years and indifferent health too are against him. The result is Mayawati has come to believe that she is a leader in her own right and, therefore, does not need her former mentor's help in maintaining her grip over UP. Indeed, the major sticking point between the BSP's Big Two is over UP. Mayawati is desperate to become chief minister at any cost following the assembly election due next year. She has built up the BSP organisational network in the state. Her loyalists control the key positions at all levels of the state party apparatus. But aware that a three-way split of the mandate in UP among the BSP, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance and Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party could result in her missing the coveted post by a whisker, she is not entirely averse to the blandishments of the saffron party for an electoral alliance. Her only condition is that the proposed alliance should guarantee her the chief ministership for a full five-year term. Staring a complete rout in the state, thanks to the wishy-washy administration of its Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta, the BJP is not averse to the idea of giving Mayawati the top job in Lucknow provided it is assured of a proportionate representation in her ministry in addition to being given the deputy chief minister's job. Following Kalyan Singh's expulsion from the BJP, Mayawati is far better disposed towards the saffron party than at any time before. As for Kanshi Ram, for all practical purposes, Mayawati has served notice on him to lay off UP. She has left him in no doubt that she considers UP her personal fiefdom and she is quite capable of winning power in the state without his help. Kanshi Ram is miffed, but can do nothing. It is yet another classic case of a politician's chela outgrowing the protective influence of the guru. A loose cannon in Vajpayee government Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani has many qualities of head and heart. He is, doubtless, an excellent legal mind. And his willingness to champion lost causes too is a great plus point. Yet, he continues to be a loose cannon whose unpredictable conduct often annoys even his most ardent admirers. Small wonder then that both Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani have often felt exasperated at his solitary act. Like the other day, he proposed to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of the chairman of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission, A N Divecha, with his handpicked candidate without consulting anyone, either in the government or in the higher echelons of the judiciary. He mooted the proposal to appoint Justice (retd) B M Lal as the new MTRP Commission chairman. Not only did Jethmalani not consult any of the GoI's senior law officers, but worse, he failed to consult even Chief Justice of India Dr A S Anand. A little bird tells us that Chief Justice Anand has objected to Jethmalani's unilateral decision and claimed a right to be consulted on all such appointments. Jethmalani reportedly holds the view that the CJI cannot have any say in the appointment of retired judges for heading various tribunals and commissions. Bureaucrat-politicians Senior bureaucrats seek to curry favour with their political masters by virtually joining their political entourage. Not long ago, senior Madhya Pradesh cadre Indian Administrative Service officer Sudip Banerjee had virtually appointed himself as the public relations officer for former state chief minister Arjun Singh. Long after Singh ceased to be a force, in either MP or in national politics, the tag of being an Arjun Singh man is so firmly affixed on Banerjee's chest that many politicians distrust him to this day. Now a senior IAS officer of the Union Territory cadre is following in Banerjee's footsteps. Having once served as an aide to a former minister in the Vajpayee government, the official in question virtually acts as her unofficial PRO, telling newspersons to 'meet her for her version on a governmental decision' or generally remonstrating with scribes who are neither charmed nor bullied by the guiles of the BJP politician desperate to get back her berth in the government. Caste no bar for the President President K R Narayanan is determined to prove his critics wrong. For, contrary to speculation in a section of the press, including this column, that he is insisting on replacing his secretary, Gopal Gandhi, with a senior IAS officer belonging to the scheduled castes, Narayanan has pointedly informed the concerned authorities that he does not insist on any such condition. Narayanan has conveyed that he only wants a competent officer with a known record for integrity. Gopal Gandhi, grandson of both Mahatma Gandhi and C Rajagopalachari, met these requirements but since he has been appointed India's next high commissioner in Sri Lanka, Narayanan must look for an equally capable officer to replace him. Take it or leave it Delhi politicians's favourite astrologer Madan, who publishes the monthly astrological magazine, Bawaji, predicts that the stars are not good for Vajpayee between now and September. His health, an international crisis or someone close to him could cause him trouble. Should he see through September, there is nothing to stop Vajpayee completing his full five-year term, insists Madan. Capital Buzz
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