Tags:
Journalism of Courage
At 96, some people are history, some on the way to it and some are plain senile to make out what history is all about. Not so Ramachandra Veerappa. The nonagenarian from Bidar, just years shy of the century mark, is out to make history. He will be slogging hard this election summer for votes in Bidar reserved Lok Sabha constituency. If he makes it, he will probably be the oldest politician in the country to make it to the Parliament.
For the BJP8212;Veerappa8217;s party8212;he is the safest bait in Bidar. He has represented it five times.
But he is no ordinary man. During his heyday he fought the British. He was sent to the Andaman jail for two years for making bombs by the British. He was released after India won Independence.
8216;8216;I fought against the angrez and they put me in jail and I fought against the Nizam and he also put me in jail8217;8217;, says the veteran Arya Samajist.
Talk to this man and you find no age-induced arrogance about him. 8216;8216;It is all due to your blessings,8217;8217; he says when asked how he manages so well at this ripe age. It is this humility that makes him the darling of all here. In the reserved constituency, he is the favourite of the upper castes too.
An illiterate, Veerappa does not understand much about the nitty-gritty of administration. Still, he takes even district magistrates to task if they do not deliver. 8216;8216;What kind of a DM are you? You are paid by us and you have to work for the people,8217;8217; he would often admonish a DM in open meetings.
He wins the hearts of upper castes, particularly Lingayats, by frequently reciting the 8216;vachanas8217; of Basaveshwara.
Bidar is a sensitive constituency where upper castes are united against the misuse of the Protection of Civil Rights Act against them. With a militant Dalit movement in the background there are increasing instances of misuse of the PCR Act. Veerappa will never play the Dalit card and the electorate in Bidar is convinced about it.
Veerappa concedes that he keeps receiving support from all political parties. A good section of the Congress cadre in Bidar prefer him to their own leaders.
Today Veerappa hardly moves out. He prefers to campaign from his humble house in Humanabad as poor health does not allow him to move out.
