Tuesday, Mar 11, 2014
Kolkata: Call it the paranoia of the powerful or sheer superstition; Indian politicians seek astrological help before any political move.
Sources close to politicians all over the country inform that the high and the mighty of Indian politics travel miles to seek solace from astrologers of their belief.
Timings for special events, choice of constituencies, decor for residences and office rooms, key aides, cabinet portfolios are all determined by astrological predictions.
Be it Narendra Modi, or Mamata Banerjee, both consulted soothsayers to determine their time of being sworn-in as chief ministers of Gujarat and Bengal respectively. Banerjee is said to have sought astrological help for the timing of declarations of her party’s candidates for the elections 2014.
Indian politics and politicians have come a long way with its constant usage of social media; excel sheet forecasts, campaign management consultants, and 3D speeches. But even then, astrological predictions rule political decisions.
Segregating politicians from ordinary folks on such issues are a wrong way of visualising society, believes Pritam Sen, convener of Scientific Society of India. “The beliefs in such things are so paramount in our society that every second person falls prey to such belief system. Unless there is radical change in society astrologers will rule the roast.”
Just like the opinion polls, astrologers have predicted a landslide victory for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming elections, but not so much luck for its prime ministerial hopeful. Astrologers predict that planetary position of Modi may not ultimately fulfil his ambitions.
A. Raja of 2G scam fame, who has been nominated by his party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to contest the polls is Nilgiris, is not only convinced of his win, but also confident that the next prime minister of India will be Sushma Swaraj, as his astrologer had predicted that he can visualise the next PM as a women sitting on a lotus — the symbol of BJP.
Politicians from the peninsula are fond of adding letters to their names based on numerological predictions to optimise their political fortunes. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalitha became
Jayalalithaa.
Deve Gowda’s son and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy became Kumaaraswamy, only to revert to the original spelling later. Former BJP chief minister of Karnataka BS Yeddiyurappa issued an affidavit in October 2007, altering his spelling to Yeddyurappa.
By Archisman Dinda Correspondent
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
