Unable to make calls to Localhost using Flutter, random port being assigned to HTTP GET call

I'm attempting to build a Flutter app where I'm required to make an HTTP call using the dart http library. So here's a snipped of the fu I use to make the call,

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'dart:async';
import 'dart:convert';
import 'dart:io';
import 'package:http/http.dart' as http;

Future<List> getData() async {
    List data = new List();
    var httpClient = new HttpClient();
    var request = await httpClient.get("localhost", 5000, '/search?query=hello');
    var response = await request.close();
    if (response.statusCode == HttpStatus.OK) {
      var jsonString = await response.transform(utf8.decoder).join();
      data = json.decode(jsonString);
      print(data);
      return data;
    } else {
      return data;
    }
  }

now on calling getData() from my code, here's the error I get

E/flutter (30949): [ERROR:topaz/lib/tonic/logging/dart_error.cc(16)] Unhandled exception:
E/flutter (30949): SocketException: OS Error: Connection refused, errno = 111, address = localhost, port = 46999
E/flutter (30949): #0      _HomePageState.getData (file:///home/bholagabbar/AndroidStudioProjects/fnd_modile_client/lib/main.dart:75:19)
E/flutter (30949): <asynchronous suspension>
E/flutter (30949): #1      _HomePageState.build.<anonymous closure> (file:///home/bholagabbar/AndroidStudioProjects/fnd_modile_client/lib/main.dart:56:15)
E/flutter (30949): #2      _InkResponseState._handleTap (package:flutter/src/material/ink_well.dart:478:14)
E/flutter (30949): #3      _InkResponseState.build.<anonymous closure> (package:flutter/src/material/ink_well.dart:530:30)
E/flutter (30949): #4      GestureRecognizer.invokeCallback (package:flutter/src/gestures/recognizer.dart:102:24)
E/flutter (30949): #5      TapGestureRecognizer._checkUp (package:flutter/src/gestures/tap.dart:161:9)
E/flutter (30949): #6      TapGestureRecognizer.handlePrimaryPointer (package:flutter/src/gestures/tap.dart:94:7)
E/flutter (30949): #7      PrimaryPointerGestureRecognizer.handleEvent (package:flutter/src/gestures/recognizer.dart:315:9)
E/flutter (30949): #8      PointerRouter._dispatch (package:flutter/src/gestures/pointer_router.dart:73:12)
E/flutter (30949): #9      PointerRouter.route (package:flutter/src/gestures/pointer_router.dart:101:11)
E/flutter (30949): #10     _WidgetsFlutterBinding&BindingBase&GestureBinding.handleEvent (package:flutter/src/gestures/binding.dart:143:19)
E/flutter (30949): #11     _WidgetsFlutterBinding&BindingBase&GestureBinding.dispatchEvent (package:flutter/src/gestures/binding.dart:121:22)
E/flutter (30949): #12     _WidgetsFlutterBinding&BindingBase&GestureBinding._handlePointerEvent (package:flutter/src/gestures/binding.dart:101:7)
E/flutter (30949): #13     _WidgetsFlutterBinding&BindingBase&GestureBinding._flushPointerEventQueue (package:flutter/src/gestures/binding.dart:64:7)
E/flutter (30949): #14     _WidgetsFlutterBinding&BindingBase&GestureBinding._handlePointerDataPacket (package:flutter/src/gestures/binding.dart:48:7)
E/flutter (30949): #15     _invoke1 (dart:ui/hooks.dart:134:13)
E/flutter (30949): #16     _dispatchPointerDataPacket (dart:ui/hooks.dart:91:5)

My API is up and running correctly, As you can see in the error logs, the request just doesn't seem to be going through. What exactly is the issue here?

For the record, I have tried every permutation of get, getUrl and even tried replacing localhost and 127.0.0.1 with 10.0.2.2 as mentioned in How to point to localhost:8000 with the Dart http package in Flutter? . I am testing this on my phone directly (One Plus 3)

This should do it

adb reverse tcp:5000 tcp:5000

https://developer.android.com/studio/command-line/adb.html

Or use adb reverse --list to see what redirects are set up.