The flyover was inaugurated, not just once, but thrice! First, City Mayor K H N Simha cut the ribbon atop the flyover to mark its inauguration, while his deputy Shahtaj Khanum unveiled the `inauguration' stone, declaring that the flyover had been inaugurated.

Then came Bangalore City Development Minister V Somanna, who decided that the inauguration was improper. He asked the officials to put the veil back on the `inauguration' stone, and once it was done, he unveiled it again. Before he did that, he did not forget to admonish the Deputy Mayor that her assignment was to propose a vote of thanks at the informal gathering, and not unveiling.

What added to the tamasha were the claims made by the `inauguration' stone. It said that the names engraved on it -- Sri Balagangadharanatha Swami, Chief Minister J H Patel, Deputy Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah (among others) -- graced the occasion of inauguration on Friday.

They never did. The reason: the omission of Janata Dal leader H D Deve Gowda's name from the invite, which provoked cancellation of the high-profile function.

However, what took the cake in this comedy-of-sorts was Shataj Khanum's behaviour. She was certainly not to meant to inaugurate the flyover in the first place. She claimed when asked that she was not aware of the Minister's presence. Later, she confessed: there was no way out for the Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) as rahukaalam (inauspicious period) was fast approaching.