SMOOTH, according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, means untroubled by difficulties and adverse conditions. For more than a week, 'smooth' was the word repeatedly used by nearly half-a-dozen senior Karnataka ministers to describe the expected transition in the state as former chief minister H.D. Deve Gowda waited in the wings to take over as prime minister. But if the events that led to the swearing-in of 65-year-old Jayadevappa Halappa Patel as the new chief minister are anything to go by, 'smooth' was redefined to mean just the opposite.