Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is known as a rationalist and he has proven his inclination several times in the past.
May it be his distance from religious centres or may it be his visit to the ‘cursed’ Chamarajanagara city five times, breaking the taboo attached to the city that the leader who visits the city loses power, the CM has proved long held beliefs wrong.
However, there were times that his actions have evinced that he is not all that a rationalist as he claims. After he allegedly changed his car because a crow was perched on it, the CM has several times manifested his other side-the leader frightened by blind beliefs.
Adding one more to this list is an incident on Saturday, when the CM opted not to visit Virupaksha temple in Hampi, despite being in the ancient city to inaugurate Hampi Utsav. While most dignitaries accompanying him visited the temple, the CM gave it a miss. It is now speculated that an old local belief may have governed the CM’s decision.
One of the beliefs among the locals is that those who visit the temple lose power. They cite the examples of Indira Gandhi, S Bangarappa and B S Yeddyurappa.
CM Siddaramaiah who is aware of this issue raised the topic in his speech. “I didn’t visit the temple as I had already visited the temple few years ago with former DCM M P Prakash,” he said giving a clarification even before the question was shot.
With polls approaching fast, it looks like the rationalist CM does not want to take a chance.
