But it is clearly not his day. The torrential rain and a mix-up of dates have cast a dampener on his meetings in interior Shimla. Instead of the scheduled 7.30 a.m., he departs three hours later, dapper as ever in a black bundgala suit with matching argyle socks. His small frame is dwarfed by the huge Ram Bilas Sharma, a Haryana BJP leader present to lend some lung power.

However, when it comes to networking for his one claim to fame, Sukh Ram doesn't need any linesmen. In meeting after meeting, the former Union telecom minister rings in the past, reminding people that he was the man who brought phones to their homes and mobiles to their doorsteps.

When the small entourage, delayed inordinately, halts at the house of an affluent farmer, Sukh Ram's phoneconversation is still on. Ignoring his fawning supporter, he launches into a data-packed, eulogistic account of all the ``great measures'' he had undertaken: ``I had made a rural package...I am the one who gave cellular licenses to all the states.'' Even his coalition partner, the BJP, is not spared in this tele-tirade. ``I was going to do so much, I did not bother about the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India). Yeh Pramod Mahajan ne sab kharab kar diya (This Pramod Mahajan spoiled everything.''

Sukh Ram also gloats over, what he terms, the decline of his detractors like Congress leader Rajesh Pilot. ``Jis, jis ne hum se pange liye, sab bahar hain (All those who crossed my path are nowhere in the picture),'' he remarks with a smirk. Another Congressman, arch-enemy Virbhadra Singh, is dismissed in the same breath: ``He is on the verge of retirement.''

What about his own indictment in the multi-crore telecom scam? Sukh Ram shrugs that off too, with a careless: ``I have been exonerated by thepeople's court, now legal matters are pending against me. I was the victim of a deep conspiracy.''

As the entourage leisurely winds its way onwards, impromptu roadside halts are made to listen to the grievances of poor Scheduled Caste villagers. But Sharma's reply to the bemused village folk is: ``Yeh mantri the, phir se mantri banenge (Sukh Ram was a minister, and will be one again).'' When they complain that the Congress has done nothing for them, Sukh Ram cuts in, reminding them smilingly: ``Hamaari telephone ki Congress hai (Ours is the telephone Congress).''

At around 3 p.m., Sukh Ram reaches the Pandit-populated village of Balag, the venue of the first large meeting of the day. As he climbs up to the meeting site, near an ancient Pandava temple under the branches of a peepal tree, the crowd cheers enthusiastically. Hundreds of people, particularly women, are squatting on the ground to listen to ``Panditji'' (as Sukh Ram is popularly known). After a series of speeches by party functionaries, againhighlighting the ``sanchaar kranti (telecom revolution)'' Sukh Ram ushered in, the man himself takes the stage.

Sukh Ram focuses on himself and his ``sterling'' achievements -- steering clear of Sonia Gandhi and skimming over Kargil. The predominant theme is ``I, me and myself'' against the ``evil misdeeds'' of Virbhadra Singh. Right from apple procurement prices to ordnance factories to the establishment of power projects in the state, Sukh Ram takes the credit for initiating moves regarding them in his various capacities as a Central minister, and blames Virbhadra for nipping all of them in the bud. Which is why, he explains, ``I had to leave the Congress after spending 35 years in it. Virbhadra's rajwara shahi (fiefdom) was standing like a wall in front of progress.''

But the HVC chief obviously does not want to shut all the doors to the Congress. So, even though Colonel Dhani Ram Shandil is the consensus candidate of the HVC and BJP here, he publicly praises Rajiv Gandhi for clearing the NathpaJhakri power project.

As he carries on in an even, almost dispassionate, tone, the loudspeaker falls on somebody's head. But even that does not stop Sukh Ram. He goes on to even take the credit for bringing television to people's homes. The speech finally ends with a filmi plea: ``Once I gave you projects worth crores of rupees. Today, I have come to you empty-handed, but I know you will not be ahsaan faramosh (ungrateful).''

Crores? Empty-handed? Now, these words have cross-connections Sukh Ram would rather not hear. The people haven't forgotten -- not the scam and not the Rs 3 crore found in his home. Before he reached the temple venue, Sukh Ram's procession made a halt at the little town of Theog, where a nukkad (corner) meeting had to be cancelled and where Sukh Ram's Tata Sumo developed a puncture. The owner of a nearby tea-stall, seeing him, burst out: ``Sukh Ram's party is a chor party (a party of thieves). All the hungry and nange (naked) people of the Congress have joined him. Onlyhis coalition with the BJP will win his party votes here.''