A housewife, Latika and her two chldren accompanied Gupta to the Capital last night after he was summoned by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Not surprisingly, she could not hide her happiness at the fact that he had finally made it to the top job in the state. ``Jod-tod ki rajniti mein hamesha unka naam rah jata thha (his claim always got overlooked because of manipulative politics),'' she told The Indian Express last night.

Gupta, 75, was deputy chief minister in the Samyukta Vidhayaka Dal government lede by Charan Singh in 1967. He was the state industries minister in the Janata Party government which came to power in 1977.