As soon as SS Meenakshisundaram, [HD Deve] Gowda’s principal secretary as chief minister, returned to Bangalore from Washington DC, he got ...
As soon as SS Meenakshisundaram, [HD Deve] Gowda’s principal secretary as chief minister, returned to Bangalore from Washington DC, he got a call from Anugraha, the chief minister’s official residence. He thought it was a farewell dinner by the prime minister-elect for senior officers who had worked with him in the state. But when Sundaram reached Anugraha, he realised that it was Gowda’s wife Chennamma who was waiting to meet him, and there was no other official invited.
Sundaram had never interacted with Gowda’s wife before, and when she spoke, her anxiety was palpable. She had still not come to terms with the fact that her husband was now to rule the nation. She also did not look terribly pleased that he had accepted the job: “He had become chief minister after long years of struggle and was doing a good job. We were happy here. Why did he have to accept this responsibility? I am afraid and the family is afraid too. We don’t know what awaits us in Delhi. We do not know anybody there, nor do we know the language. Whoever I talk to about Delhi scares me about the place. Now that he has made up his...
