In the past, he has raked up issues, real or cooked up, to hog the limelight whenever he finds his position in the party threatened. Sometimes the issues stick and at other times become a source of embarrassment to the party -- as the issue of Forms B has now become.

A little over two years ago, Patwa led a delegation of supporters to then Governor Mohammad Shafi Qureshi to submit a memorandum saying that 29 Congress MLAs had withdrawn support to the Digvijay Singh government and since it was now in a minority, it should be dismissed. The publicity in-charge at the BJP office had made sure that the sufficient numbers of reporters from the electronic media had reached Raj Bhavan.

After the hawala scam had been unearthed, Patwa called a press conference to reveal that Digvijay Singh had gifted away over 4,37,000 sqft of land in Bhilai to B.L. Jain whose name had figured among the list of main accused in the scam. It then turned out that the allotment of the land -- made for the construction of a hospital -- had, in fact, been finalised by Patwa's government on November 30, 1992.

Another time, Patwa charged Digvijay Singh with obtaining a government house in Delhi from the special quota which was later cancelled by the court. It turned out that the Digvijay Singh who had been allocated the house in Delhi was not the Chief Minister but another government employee.

In the present case, Patwa called a Press conference at the BJP office on November 8 to announce that Forms B of 107 Congress candidates were faxed from the Chief Minister's residence and were accepted by the returning officers at the instance of the state's chief electoral officer. Patwa, though, could not provide the details. The allegation seemed absurd. A note on the printed Forms B says that the form will not be accepted if sent by fax or not signed(by the authorised person) in ink. Nomination papers are filed before returning officers and the public and it seemed incomprehensible that so many returning officers should commit illegalities in full view.

Senior IAS officer O.P. Rawat was appointed to inquire into the matter. On the basis of the report, the Election Commission announced yesterday that the complaint was unsubstantiated and no further action was needed.

Meanwhile, political observers do not totally rule out the possibility of a fractured verdict for the 320-member state assembly in the absence of any strong wave for or against the main contenders for power. Though both Congress and the BJP are playing the anti-incumbency card, with BJP blaming the ruling Congress in the state and Congress training its guns at the BJP-led government at the Centre, they seem worried over rebels queering their pitch -- a situation in which smaller parties and independents could tilt the balance.

Since a swing of even two per cent votes can make or mar theprospects of a party at the hustings, political analysts say that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with 7.12 per cent votes in its kitty last time and left parties contesting 45 seats now, could play a decisive role in government formation.