It has everything: a campaign that almost killed it before it could take off; public spat between a former prime minister and India's best known IT czar; the presence of the cream of India's IT industry; and the wrath of the rain gods.

Bangalore.IT.in 2005, India's premier information technology show, could not have begun on a more controversial - or uneasy - note.

Karnataka's state's flagship IT event was first entangled in a major controversy when, upset over the government 'not keeping its word' on improving infrastructure in Bangalore, some top IT firms decided to boycott it. After much pacification, the IT sector agreed to participate.

No sooner did a solution to the problem was worked out, than H D Deve Gowda, former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president, launched a salvo at Infosys Chairman N R Narayana Murthy saying the latter had done nothing to develop Bangalore, India's 'Silicon Valley'.

Angry at this, Murthy quit as the chairman of the Bangalore International Airport Ltd and sent a list of Infosys's investments in Karnataka. (Who's right? Gowda or Murthy?)

In response, Gowda - who was to be the chief guest at the major event - said he would not attend the meet. He, however, relented and agreed to be the chief guest at the event on Wednesday, even as the skies opened up on Bangalore causing flooding and a major disruption in normal life.

But there was more drama in store.... Read on...

Police officers standing guard at the Bangalore IT.in 2005. The Bangalore IT.IN is the premier annual event organised by the state government to promote the Information Technology (IT) industry and to attract global investment in the state.

Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images

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