There have been loads of shockers in this election. The first and perhaps the biggest shocker was the BJD breaking its decade-long alliance with the BJP. Caught off guard, the national media went on an overdrive. What I found most interesting about the coverage was the stuff about Naveen Patnaik or as the media called him Pappu Patnaik. The story about the uber chic socialite being dragged to his roots to carry on his father's legacy had me hooked. I knew the Election Express wasn't about getting the big leaders but really there was no other face in the BJD.

So, soon after arriving in Bhubaneswar, we headed for Tangi where Naveen was campaigning for his Kendrapara candidate Jay Panda. Enthusiastic party workers utilised a traffic jam to dance to reworked songs ( it went something like Chi Chi Congress). We were rather apprehensive. Naveen Patnaik has denied interviews to many after the break-up. We knew we didn't want to sit down with him but at least he should answer a couple of questions.

As soon as his chopper touched down though I knew I didn't care whether he spoke to us or not. It's fun to see how a leader connects to his people, what works for them, and their chemistry.

Naveen Patnaik looked much older than his 63 years of age. Probably because of the number of rallies he'd attended, he walked slowly to the stage, his face totally sunburnt.

What happened next was totally unexpected. We knew he wasn't fluent in Oriya but he didn't try to hide it at all. Whenever he departed from his written speech, he lapsed into hindi, briefly apologising to the people for doing so. When I spoke with some city people yesterday, they said the only thing they hold against Naveen Babu is that he can't speak Oriya. But the crowds in Tangi didn't mind. They seemed to have accepted it as a harmless idiosyncracy.

He is reported to have many others. For instance, he apparently travels with his windows down, without AC in the summer so at traffic intersections, the chief minister is seen greeting commuters with a namaskar. He's also a smoker but he never ever, ever lets anyone see him do that and lastly, he doesn't have a coterie. We asked around about the CM's men or close aides and came up with almost none. That's actually something he shares with Gujarat CM Narendra Modi.

By the way, at Tangi, Naveen Babu did not disappoint. As he came down the podium lined with cellphone cameras, he took out time to speak with us separately. We don't know whether you are going to win, Mr Patnaik...people seem fairly happy with your work - but we are charmed, really.