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Article: India's Next Leader: A Man of Simple Tastes
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 30, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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He grows rice and millet on the family farm. He dines on bland
balls of millet paste dipped in curried vegetables. He dresses in a
long, unstitched piece of cotton wrapped around the waist.
H.D. Deve Gowda, the next prime minister of India and leader
of the multi-party United Front, is a man of simple tastes who
remains close to his rural roots in the southern state of Karnataka.
In fact, his first name -- Haradanahalli -- is that of his ancestral
village.
Newspaper and magazine profiles are filled with self-effacing
comments in which he describes himself as "just a peasant" who does
not "need any luxuries" or "want to mix with sophisticated people,"
including foreigners.
But it ...