February 23, 1998

H D Deve Gowda
Janata Dal

Hassan: Karnataka
Electorate: 11.4 lakh
Main Rival: H C Srikantaiah (Congress)

The humble farmer sleeps peacefully in his car. Whisked away after every meeting by the SPG, former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda is woken up just before the next venue. It takes but an instant for him to suddenly transform into the slick politician, emerging out of his car with folded hands and painted smile.

Minutes later, he is in his element, projecting himself as a farmer who dared to dream. "Imagine a farmer like me sitting on Nehru's chair ... addressing the nation ... being written about all over the world. It wasn't just me, I was representing all of you," he explains. What he doesn't mention is how, once out of office, even close allies ignored him. Now he fights alone, counting on Kannada pride.

Problem is he seems to talk more about what he did at 10 Race Course Road than Hassan's problems. The crowd is interested in the Cauvery water issue but he goes on about how he solved the water dispute with Bangladesh. Question him about it and pat comes the answer: "People should know it is a former prime minister speaking, not a chief minister." And then he's off, sleep-sliding away.

-- Stephen David

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