What a waning comet signifies for Deve Gowda...

First it was the Congress. Now even the stars seem to be against our simple, humble Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.

Comet Hale Bopp, the 'star attraction' of the evening skies, from Thursday, is on the wane. Just as Deve Gowda's chances at the prime ministerial game were.

So, will the Bopp take the United Front with it? Ah, that is the question! Which astrologers the country over are cashing in on now.

But astrology is astrology and politics, politics. And never shall the 'twain mix... unless, of course, it is 'star-struck' politicians like P V Narasimha Rao -- oh, he of the indomitable astrological faith -- that we are talking about.

Which we aren't. We are discussing Deve Gowda who is -- or so he claims -- of the earthy variety; not the 'starry' type. So comets don't make much difference to him -- waning or not waning.

But again, facts are facts. And comets have been interminably linked with political upheavals. The Atharvaveda even has a prayer invoking protection against the malevolence of comets and meteorites.

Historically, the best recorded appearance of a comet as harbinger of political cataclysm is that of Halley's. In 1066 AD, it marked the invasion of England by French-speaking Normans.

In English literature, too, comets find mention. Shakespeare has, Calpurnia warning her husband in Julius Caesar thus: 'There are no comets seen when beggars die, but the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.'

Returning to ancient Indian literature, in the Brihadsamhita, the sixth century astronomer Varahamihira has catalogued a thousand comets by shape and colour, and their possible effects on man.

But Deve Gowda and company can take heart from another fact: Mythology has it that all comets are not malevolent; some are even benevolent. Wasn't it a comet which guided the three wise men from Orient to Bethlehem when Christ was born? Maybe, Hale Bopp is one of such, maybe its waning has nothing to do with politics, maybe it is just waning for waning's sake...

Maybe, it is actually a good omen, signifying Sitaram Kesri's political death and, Deve Gowda's continuance in power?

April 11 is the day of reckoning. Tomorrow we will know!