February 23, 1998

Ponnani  Kerala
Electorate: 11 lakh
Main Rival: O M Mumtaz (CPI)

Ghulam Mohammed Banatwala runs a campaign that redefines eccentricity. He nonchalantly tours his Ponnani constituency, delivering oratory from door to door in breathless English. Everyone listens attentively, except they do not understand a word of what he says. That Banatwala -- born in Mumbai and having served one term in the Maharashtra Assembly -- doesn't speak their language and they know no other hasn't hampered communication. Incomprehension has nothing to do with faith. After all, Banatwala has been contesting -- and winning hands down -- from Ponnani since he shifted there in 1977.

Banatwala's rivals are astonished by this successful relationship. His loyalists though can't understand what the fuss is all about. "Who cares for language?" asks A. Moosa, a wholesale merchant. Balakrishna Menon, a Congressman on the campaign committee, argues that Banatwala is actually a step ahead of the late Mohammed Ismael who used to win a neighbouring constituency even without visiting it after filing his nomination papers.

Banatwala has no time for all this nonsense. Hundreds of his loyal supporters are waiting for him at the next stop. He will tell them, "Do not be vexed by this dispute over temples and mosques." That they don't follow him makes no difference. To him or them.

-- K. Govindan Kutty

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