Even in the dark,you could read their faces: they all knew

“I don’t know what to think,” said party vice-president Indrasena Reddy,eyes bloodshot from worry and lack of sleep. Sitting next to him,general secretary G Niranjan simply shook his head and switched off the TV. “Hopes have faded,the Sukhoi did not find the chopper. We should expect the worst in the morning,” said Prabhu.

On the steps outside the office,party workers had been on a vigil since noon Wednesday,refusing to leave. When the government clarified that the CM had not been traced,they manhandled a senior party worker who had gone around distributing sweets earlier,claiming that YSR had been found and was safe.

“I have been hearing all kinds of reports since afternoon. One moment I am happy,the next I am anxious. Till now there is no news. I fear the worst,” said V Arun,a Congress worker from Medak. Some of his friends nodded in agreement,others simply shrugged. The garlands they had brought to welcome YSR back had been dumped near the gate.

The Army,someone shouted,was going into the Nallamala forest. But no one cheered. “When the helicopters could not find him,how can men on foot?” asked a youngster as he called someone from his cellphone.

By 2 am,it was evident that everyone there knew. Only no Congressman could gather the courage to speak the unspeakable.

Outside the Secretariat,vehicles packed the road. Congress leaders,workers had started coming in from nearby districts. Some contacted APCC president D Srinivas who was with Finance Minister K Rosaiah and Chief Secretary P Ramakanth Reddy. A woman stepped out of a car,only to collapse on the pavement,wailing “I cannot believe it,I don’t want to believe it.”

Across the road,hundreds were immersing Ganesh idols in the Hussain Sagar lake under floodlights. “Why has god taken away such a nice person? YSR will always live among us,” said Satya Kiran,a fair price shop assistant,before adding “the government probably knows what has happened,it is only waiting for morning to declare what we all think has happened.” No one seemed surprised.