‘He didn’t want to speak to me,’ he said as we got back into the car and followed Hari Rao’s cavalcade.
I chewed on Andrew’s response until he stopped in front of a house Hari Rao had just entered.
‘You can try again,’ I told Andrew, whose eyes were fixed on the elderly man’s back.
As Hari Rao exited the house, Andrew got out of the car and walked behind the politician, who repeated the exercise in 15 such thatched dwellings. He spoke to the men and women, asking for their trust to finish the work he had started in taking Karnataka forward.
The tableau played out across habitats in other hamlets in the district. Andrew didn’t say much, even during the drives when we were joined by theMorning Herald’s chief photographer in Mysuru, who more than compensated for the laconic word count.
He had clicked about a dozen pictures of Andrew and Hari Rao, which he kept thrusting in my direction. ‘Myra ma’am, see this picture of Andrew sir and sir,’ he said. Andrew finally told him to take pictures of Hari Rao with the people and leave him out of the frame or the paper wouldn’t be able to use any of his photographs.
He laughed and wagged his head.
‘Anyway, Andrew sir,’ the photographer said, inching forward and sticking his head between our seats like a five-year-old asking for a treat, ‘I don’t think Hari Rao will win this election. There is too much money doing the rounds in the other camp. This election is a bought election, sir. If you have money, you can buy. My vote is for KANNADA, my language, my people.’
Andrew nodded.
‘You think Hari Rao won’t win?’ I asked the photographer, turning in my seat.
‘I’m not so sure he won’t win,’ Andrew said.
‘Why, sir?’
‘People here vote with their heart. Hewillwin. I’m not sure if the party will get a simple majority though.’
Hari Rao looked regal in a Mysore peta (a dressy turban), standing atop an estate truck. The sun came down on Pandavapura, lending colour to a compelling picture. The beloved monarch and his milling subjects. People had lined the thoroughfare, waving party flags and cheering as his vehicle inched through the main road.
I had read that the power of Hari Rao’s campaign lay in the person-to-person exercise. He not only went to houses, especially in small villages, which had two or three hutments at most, but he also met with every resident. He carried sweets for children, whom he engaged with, and took the blessings of the elderly. It was easy to see why he was once known as the ‘people’s chief minister’. He was a mass leader.
By the time Hari Rao was done, it was almost 7 p.m. The photographer said he was heading back to Mysuru and would join us the following morning.
‘What do you want to do?’ Andrew asked as we made our way to his car, which he had parked at the bus stand.
I wanted a cup of coffee, any damn coffee at this point, because I hadn’t had a sip all day.
‘I’m sorry, Myraah, I was meaning to stop at a café on the highway,’ Andrew said, bringing his hands together in apology. ‘We’ll do that now, on our way back.’
‘Back?’ I had the beginnings of a headache.
‘Yeah,’ Andrew said. ‘I think we still have time to get back to Bengaluru and start early tomorrow and maybe catch them here and go forward.’
We were an hour from Mysuru, maybe a little more than that. So, what sense was there in driving all the way back to Bengaluru only to return here in the morning?
‘I thought you’d want to go to the party office or wherever it is these peeps hang out once their day is done,’ I said. Why? That would add more colour to my copy?
‘Hari Rao and his PA are going back to Bengaluru. Apparently, he always does that. He’ll start early tomorrow.’
I was looking forward to a late-evening gin and tonic with Andrew.
‘Oh! Okay.’ It made sense for Hari Rao, who wasn’t getting younger. But for me, who had no plans of geriatric care for another 50 years, it was a party spoiler.
‘There’s no point in us staying here. We’re better off trailing him, even if it’s by a fair distance.’
The question was in my expression.
‘I don’t want him drawing conclusions, Rai.’
The surname again! What conclusions? About Andrew and me? That we were a couple?
