He is no star and has no royal lineage, but his supporters look on him with veneration. 

Meet Ramachandra Veerappa, believed by many here to be the oldest candidate in India's general elections, which are due to begin next week. 

Mr Veerappa is 94, according to the available documentation, and is now standing for parliament for a seventh time. 

He hails from the low-caste Dalit community. 

Mr Veerappa's constituency, Bidar, is 700km (435 miles) from Bangalore, the capital of the southern state of Karnataka. 

Only Dalits can stand as candidates in Bidar. 

"It is because of people's goodwill that I will be elected again," says a confident Mr Veerappa, who prefers door-to-door campaigning on foot. 

On an average day he is on the campaign trail for nearly 10 hours - not an easy task when summer temperatures hit 40C. 

Age is no deterrent and retirement only a distant thought for this grand old man, renowned for his red turban. "I am fit," he asserts. 

Frugal lifestyle 

So what keeps him going? 

"You must ask God that," he says, although he is also quick to attribute his longevity to his spartan lifestyle. 

Mr Veerappa was born in his old home in the muddy by-lanes of the sleepy town of Humnabad. 

He is teetotal. "Neither do I chew betel, drink, smoke or indulge in bribery," he says. 

"I eat home-made vegetarian food. Even during a campaign, I get back for home cooking." 

His regular fare is maize rotis, vegetables and red chilli paste, a staple diet in this region. 

"I was born here, I will die here. As long as I have the people's support, I will continue to be in politics," he says. 

Does that mean another election? "Let us see. Let this election be over," he says coolly. 

Mr Veerappa himself is not wholly sure of his year of birth, although Bidar deputy commissioner Anil Kumar says the nomination papers puts his age at 94. 

"He could be the oldest candidate in this election, but I am not sure," says Mr Kumar. 

Mr Veerappa's early days were tough. 

He had no schooling, having helped his parents make a living on a farm. 
Accessible 

His political journey began during the Raj. 

Joining the Congress Party-led freedom struggle against the British, Mr Veerappa found himself deported to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, far from the Indian mainland. 

After independence, he made his electoral debut in 1952, winning a Legislative Council seat. 

Since then he has never looked back, although he has switched parties. 
He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1991 but says it was not ideology that drove him into the organisation. 

"I was not given a ticket by the Congress. So I moved to the BJP," says Mr Veerappa. 

Unlike many politicians, Mr Veerappa spends most of his time in his constituency and is readily accessible. 

Though a Dalit, he has the support of all sects, including Brahmins and Lingayats, both powerful communities. 

"People like him because of his simplicity," says Rishikesh Bahadur Desai, a Bidar-based journalist on The Hindu newspaper. 

Mallikarjun, a milkman, says Mr Veerappa avoids controversy and is popular because he is a different type of politician. 

"It is difficult to find MPs living in small towns like Humnabad. They all go to Bangalore and Delhi and come back only during elections. Not Mr Veerappa. He even came to the annual day of our village school." 

His critics, however, say he has done little for the constituency's development and is impaired by his age. 

Brushing aside the criticism, Basavaraj Ramachandra, one of Mr Veerappa's five sons, says: "He is doing good work despite his age. I heard my father is the oldest parliamentarian not only in India but in Asia."