Earlier this week, former health minister of Bihar and Lalu Prasad’s eldest son Tej Pratap Yadav, decided to vacate the bungalow that was allotted to him when he became the health minister. His reason? The bungalow, he believes, is haunted by ghosts!
Talking to journalists, Singh said, “I have vacated the residence… Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi had sent ghosts in the house. Anybody who comes to live in the house will suffer.”
Yesterday, Rajasthan MLAs had called for a puja to relieve the ‘haunted’ assembly from ‘evil spirits’. BJP MLA Kalyan Singh passed away on Wednesday and last year in August another BJP MLA had died. BJP MLA Habibur Rahman said, “I told madam that the building is constructed on a cremation ground and pujas should be performed to ward off evil spirits.”
Sadly, Yadav or the Rajasthan MLAs aren’t the only politicians who believe in things like ghosts. India seems to have plenty of politicians who are extremely superstitious.
Here are some instances from the past which show how some very important politicians in our country have made some very superstitious statements.
1. Narendra Modi
An under-construction flyover had collapsed in Kolkata which had resulted in the deaths of 27 people in March 2016. Our very own Prime Minister while campaigning for the 2016 West Bengal assembly elections had said, “God has sent a message to the people — that today this bridge has collapsed, tomorrow she (Mamata Banerjee) will finish off entire Bengal.”
2. Vijay Rupani
The current chief minister of Gujarat had made some very interesting observations in August 2017 while speaking at the convocation ceremony of Institute of Infrastructure Technology Research and Management (IITRAM) where even the director of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Space Application Centre was present. He had said, “Each arrow of Lord Ram was a rocket. What ISRO is doing right now (launching rockets), Lord Ram used to launch in those days.” Let’s hope the director didn’t take the words of chief minister Vijay Rupani personally.
They say, ‘All is fair in love and war’ but should elections be treated similarly?
3. Lalu Prasad Yadav
At least 228 people had lost their lives after the 2016 floods which ravaged the state of Bihar in the months of July, August and September. Lalu Prasad Yadav, former chief minister of Bihar and a convict who is currently serving his time in Ranchi jail for his involvement in the fodder scam had words of solace for the flood victims. He had said, “Ganga has reached your doorstep. It has reached your hearth. You are fortunate. Do you get the holy water of Ganga easily? Now, Ganga will save everyone.” His political party Rashtriya Janata Dal was then in power, in alliance with Nitish Kumar’s JD (U) and the Indian National Congress.
4. Akhilesh Yadav
A superstition exists that any UP chief minister who dares to visit Noida will eventually lose their job. Akhilesh Yadav had stayed away from Noida when he was the chief minister. The current chief minister Yogi Adityanath finally broke the jinx by taking part in the inauguration of the Noida-Kalkaji metro line in January 2018, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Responding to this, Akhilesh Yadav in a joking tone said, “… the time will come when the effect of the Noida jinx will be seen. It is good that both Yogi Adityanath and Narendra Modi reached Noida.”
5. Himanta Biswa Sarma
Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in an address to a group of teachers in an event in November 2017 said, “Sometimes, we come across young men with cancer or those who meet with accidents. If you observe the background, you will come to know that it is divine justice. Nothing else. We have to suffer that divine justice.”
‘Cancer is divine justice for sins’ says Assam Minister Sharma. That is what switching parties does to a person.
— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) November 22, 2017
He was earlier a member of the Indian National Congress and had shifted his allegiance to the Bharatiya Janata Party. P. Chidambaram, the former finance minister of India had tweeted, giving reasons as to why he thought the Assam health minister held such views.
Perhaps we really shouldn’t be so harsh on the Rajasthan MLAs or Tej Pratap Yadav when people like the health minister of a state, a chief minister and even the Prime Minister are leading from the front.
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