The saying “There is many a slip between the cup and the lip” holds quite true in politics, with a number of incidents dotting history when hopefuls with “assurance” of getting a ministerial berth or a prominent party position return home empty handed because of some last-minute rethinking on part of the leadership.

One such almost tragic-comic situation was witnessed in AICC on Monday, and the disappointed hopeful in this case was Karanataka MP Tejaswini.

The Lok Sabha MP, who had defeated H D Deve Gowda in the last general elections, walked into the AICC headquarters about half an hour before the media briefing scheduled at 2 pm to announce the party organisation reshuffle, looking confident even as hordes of party workers were already getting ready to celebrate in anticipation of Rahul Gandhi’s anointment as a general secretary.

Tejaswini, a former journalist herself, ran into a handful of her journalist friends on her way into the AICC headquarters and told them confidently that she was getting appointed as an AICC secretary, prompting one or two of them to even congratulate her “in advance”.

As the media briefing approached, Tejaswini took her position at one corner of the wide podium. Then the briefing started, with general secretary Janardan Dwivedi reading out the names in the list, as Tejaswini stood with an expectant look. But as he came to the names of secretaries and other office bearers and finally ended her name was nowhere to be found.

Finally, the briefing ended, and Dwivedi was mobbed by the media personnel for finer details while outside the celebrations began welcoming Rahul Gandhi’s induction as a general secretary.

Amidst all this, Tejaswini was nowhere to be seen. As a regular speaker in Parliament, there is no doubt that the young MP has caught the eyes of party leaders, but she would have to learn not to commit such faux pas.