Now Mrs Bangaru faces the camera

‘‘I never ever thought I would contest an election. I was content with looking after my home and children. I had kept Laxmanji free from all domestic worries so that he could pursue his political career. In the 33 years of our married life, I have never bothered him with a single domestic problem. But today, if I have to come forward to fight for his honour, I have no hesitation to contest,’’ Sushila added.

Sushila, 56, who teaches Hindi at a school in Secunderabad, arrived here from Hyderabad last night. ‘‘I am only the front for Laxmanji. It is he who would be fighting the election by proxy…I thought of joining my husband because I felt that he was going though a lot of tension on account of an uncertain future. I had learnt that the party leadership was reluctant to give him a ticket though the people of Jalore and Sirohi districts wanted him to contest.’’

‘‘Laxmanji all of a sudden told me this morning that I may have to contest,’’ she said, adding that it took her quite by ‘‘surprise’’. Was she nervous? Sushila said, ‘‘No. I am already familiar with party workers and the people of Jalore for I was there during the last Lok Sabha elections, too, when Laxmanji contested. I know them all, they know me.’’

Asked if she was nervous about the public meetings she might be asked to address, she said, ‘‘Oh, no. I am a teacher — I can read the faces of my pupils and tackle them accordingly. Handling a crowd would be no problem.’’ As for the subject matter, ‘‘I have not applied my mind yet, but I would certainly tell people that this ticket has been given to Laxmanji, and they must stand by him.’’

Though she is Telugu, Sushila said language is not a problem. ‘‘In fact, Laxmanji has picked up a great deal of Hindi from me,’’ she added, underlining that she was born at Jhansi in UP. With her father a risaldar in the Army, she stayed at various places, from UP and Punjab to Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Armed with a Sahitya Ratan from Allahabad, she took up a Hindi teacher’s job.

Sushila said she has no political idols. ‘‘I was neither into raj nor niti. Let me see both to form my opinion.’’ She didn’t take kindly to the suggestion that she, being a proxy for her husband, might become another Rabri Devi. ‘‘I am an educated woman,’’ she emphasised.