Thank you Garg ji for bringing this up. I have considered this plant carefully, and compared with herbarium specimens and the description. With long peduncles, lanceolate upper leaves, and 2-3 cm flower-heads, to me it appears to agree reasonably well with
Aster peduncularis, and also with the attached GBIF specimen. Unfortunately, because of the tall grass around the plant, we could not capture the lower leaves. I will have a relook at it, and see if there is a better match. Maybe in another visit I can find the plant again.