Lok Sabha Polls 2014:‘Bahurani’ from Lucknow charms Tamil Nadu voters

SALEM: She's the quintessential "bahurani", adding a Lucknowi flavour to the Congress campaign in Tamil Nadu. Amrita, daughter-in-law of the Kumaramangalams, is doing her bit for husband Mohan, Congress candidate in Salem, by putting her colloquial Urdu to use in interacting with Muslims.

Amrita's husband is the son of Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, who was a minister in the P V Narasimha Rao government and subsequently joined BJP. Rangarajan's father was a minister in the Indira Gandhi government.

"Pehle aap (first you)" Amrita tells voters wanting to air their grievances, before she speaks on her husband who studied and lived in Massachusetts and Illinois but is now in Salem to reclaim his political inheritance. Amrita, who hails from a Sindhi business family in Lucknow, is a mother of one and businesswoman who deals in environment-friendly baby products.

She converses in Hindi with Marwadis, Marathis and Sindhis plying their trade in TN for generations. "The party people treat me like their daughter. They are protective, especially since my Tamil is weak," she says, talking about her campaign. She doesn't comprehend caste equations or that the Kumaramangalams are Vallalar Gounders.

Kumaramangalams seem to transcend caste considerations. "Everyone I meet remembers my father-in-law, and Mohan's grandfather. They either have a letter from Mohan's father or have had meals with him or named their son after him. They show me photos of him eating in their house. It is a humbling experience."