MLAs see 145;vaastu dosh146; in MP Assembly

Following the death of education minister Laxman Singh Gaud in a road accident, legislators in Madhya Pradesh...

Following the death of education minister Laxman Singh Gaud in a road accident, legislators in Madhya Pradesh have allowed superstition to get the better of them.

The 49-year-old is among the two-dozen MLAs, including ministers, who have died since the state Assembly shifted to a sprawling building on Arera Hills more than a decade ago.

Some of them, including ministers, have openly blamed the deaths on Vaastu Dosh in the building, designed by famous architect Charles Correa. A section of the media has played up the superstition. It went overboard after Gaud8217;s death on Monday. PWD minister Kailash Vijayvargiya has written a letter 8212; a copy of which is available with The Indian Express 8212; to Assembly speaker Ishwardas Rohani to rope in Vaastu experts from across the country to study the building and correct the 8216;anomalies8217;.

8220;These deaths give rise to apprehensions in our minds. Also, people get worried about the fate of their representatives. There8217;s nothing wrong in addressing these fears8221;, Vijayvargiya told this paper on Friday. His letter says, 8220;In this era of science most people would call it irrational, but Vaastu Shastra is our gift to the world. I don8217;t want to argue whether these fears have any rational basis, but such a study is needed to end them for once and all8221;.

Correa was not available for comment.

The Samajwadi Party has gone a step ahead. It will organise a Sarvadaliya Sarvadharma Vaastu Dosh Kashtanivaran Yagna all-party, all-religion meet to correct Vaastu defects on Saturday in front of the picturesque building. Party state president Narayan Tripathi said, 8220;The BJP does not have courage to organise a yagna. The ritual is needed to remove the fear8221;.

Apart from all political parties, he has even invited the Governor to take part in the yagna.Tripathi is partly pained because he had to cancel a huge rally in the wake of Gaud8217;s death. The SP has not lost a single member to unnatural causes, but the BJP and Congress have many.