Bengaluru: The superstition over the jinx attached to Chamarajanagara hangs like a Damocles sword over Chief Ministers in Karnataka. Most believe they will lose power if they visit the district headquarters.
The jinx began during the time of Devaraj Urs. Widely considered the best Chief Minister Karnataka ever had Mr. Urs was a champion of the backward classes. Yet, Charajanagara was an exception for him.
Even in this day and age rumours that a CM will lose power if he visits the district are still believed. Due to this, many former CMs have skipped visiting Chamarajanagara district headquarters. Former Chief Ministers, Devaraj Urs, R. Gundu Rao, Ramakrishna Hegde, S.R. Bommai and Veerendra Patil have all lost power after they visited Chamarajanagara.
Among all Chief Ministers, Mr. Devaraj Urs was unique because of his programs for the backward classes. After completing his first term, he was re-elected for a second term for sixth Legislative Assembly. He became the Chief Minister for a second term on December 31, 1977, but he lost power on January 7, 1980, without completing his second term. It was the first instance of a Chief Minister losing power after visiting Chamarajanagara.
After the resignation of Devaraj Urs, senior Congressmen R. Gundurao become the Chief Minister. He ruled the state from January 12, 1980 to January 6, 1983, but he could not get re-elected for a second term. It can be remembered that Mr. Rao visited Chamarajanagara during his stint as the Chief Minister.
Ramakrishna Hegde was the first non-Congress Chief Minister of the State and was in power between January 10, 1983 to December 29, 1984, from March 8, 1985 to February 16, 1986. Mr. Hegde again became the Chief Minister on February 16, 1986 to August 10, 1988. He became the Chief Minister for three terms but did not complete the terms. He resigned from the Chief Minister's post after charges were made against him in telephone tapping case. interestingly Mr. Hegde lost power after he visited Chamarajanagara district. After Mr. Hegde lost power, the jinx about Chamarajanagara has become more believable and the stigma attached to the district has become stronger.
After the resignation of Ramakrishna Hegde, S.R. Bommai became the Chief Minister from August 13, 1988 to April 21 1989. After his resignation, President's rule was imposed in the State. It has also been remembered that Mr. Bommai lost power after he visited Chamarajanagara district. Subsequently, general elections were held to the Assembly and Congress came to power.
Veerendra Patil became the Chief Minister on November 30, 1989, but he lost the power in October 10, 1990. After dethroning Mr. Patil from the CM's chair, Congress high command appointed S. Bangarappa as the Chief Minister. It should be remembered that Mr. Patil lost power after he visited the jinxed district of Chamarajanagara and this superstition became household talk in the State.
After Patil, Congress Chief Minister, S. Bangarappa, Janatha Dal Chief Ministers, H.D. Devegowda, J.H. Patel and Congress CMs, S.M. Krishna, Dharam Singh believed this superstition and did not risk visiting Chamarajanagara. They instead inaugurated developmental works at district border and the practice has been followed by many Chief Ministers.
After 16 years, JD(S)- BJP coalition government came to power. H.D. Kumaraswamy became the Chief Minister. Ironically, Mr. Kumaraswamy paid a visit to Chamarajanagara. But his government has collapsed after Kumaraswamy has refused to transfer the power to BJP in accordance with the 20:20 months power-sharing agreement. After the collapse of the coalition government, the stigma attached to Chamarajanagara become stronger.
After the collapse of the coalition government, President's rule was imposed in the State. Subsequently, elections were held to the Assembly in 2008 and BJP came to power with a thin majority. B.S. Yediyurappa became the Chief Minister and he ruled the state for three years. However, he did not visit the district during his tenure.
D.V. Sadananda Gowda became the Chief Minister in 2011 after Yediyurappa resigned. Mr. Gowda did not visit Chamarajanagara district due to the fact that he could lose power. Jagadish Shettar became the Chief Minister after him and during his fag end of the tenure, Mr. Shettar has visited the district. But his visit to the district has not come up for discussion, because he completed his tenure and general elections were announced.
However, Congress leader Siddaramaiah has snubbed this superstition and visited Chamarajanagara during his tenure more than ten times. He wiped out the stigma attached to Chamarajanagara by visiting the district and launched many developmental works in the district. In 2018, Congress- JD(S) coalition government came to power and Chief Minister H.D. Kumarasamy did not visit the Chamarajanagara during his one year term. After the collapse of the coalition government, BJP came to the power and B.S. Yediyurappa became the Chief Minister. Mr. Yediyurappa believes in this superstition and did not visit the district.
Can a CM safeguard his/her position, if he/she skips Chamarajanagara visit?
On the one hand, superstition is about that those will lose the power if they visit Chamarajanagara, it is also true that many lost the power without visiting the jinx attached Chamarajanagara district. After Devaraj Urs, Siddaramaiah was the second Chief Minister who completed his full five-year tenure. Despite more than ten visits to Chamarajanagra, Mr. Siddaramaiah completed his five-year term. This fact has to be noted.
Even both Congress and non-Congress Chief Ministers lost power for different reasons, it has absolutely no link about them skipping visiting Chamarajanagara district. From S. Bangarappa to Kumaraswamy, the former Chief Ministers did not visit the jinx attached district, but they lost the power for different reasons. With regard to Congress, party high command unseated Mr. Bangarappa. The first-ever BJP government came to power in 2008, though Mr. Yediyurappa has not visited Chamarajanagara, but lost the CM's post after Lokayukta indicted him in land-related corruption cases. However, Mr. Kumaraswamy lost power in 2019, after BJP resorted to Operation Lotus.
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