A home too risky for Chief Ministers: 'Bad omen' forces rethink on bungalow

by Guest Wed Aug 17, 2016 9:51 pm

Guwahati, Aug. 17: Auric Goldfinger famously told James Bond that "once is happenstance, twice is coincidence and the third time, it is enemy action".

Which brings up the question: what about the fourth time?

If the place in question is the chief minister's bungalow in Arunachal Pradesh, the answer appears to be "why take a chance?"

The sprawling structure in Itanagar had been home to four chief ministers - three of whom died untimely while the reign of the sole surviving occupant was shortlived.

The new chief minister, Pema Khandu, is now considering whether to turn the building into a museum or government office.

"People are saying it is a bad omen. We will take a decision on what to do with it. It could be converted into a government asset - an office or a museum. Our cabinet will soon decide what to do with the bungalow," Khandu told The Telegraph. The young chief minister is not known to be superstitious but he lost his father when the senior leader was living in the bungalow.

Dorjee Khandu, one of the most charismatic leaders of Arunachal and the father of Pema Khandu, had lived in the building first as chief minister.

Khandu senior had moved in after the house was blessed by the Dalai Lama in November 2009. Dorjee Khandu died in 2011 in a helicopter crash.

The most recent tragedy to strike the building was the death of Kalikho Pul, the former chief minister who was found hanging in his vipassana (meditation) room in the two-storey bungalow in Niti Vihar of Itanagar on August 9.

Pul's short stint as chief minister was over after a high-voltage legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court. He was aged only 47.

Jarbom Gamlin, another chief minister who lived in the bungalow, did not last long in the chair. He lost power a little over five months after taking over in 2011 and died three years later, aged 53.

Nabam Tuki, who succeeded Gamlin as chief minister, completed his term and returned to power but a rebellion within the ruling Congress forced him to relinquish his post. Although the Supreme Court reinstated him, the innings lasted for only three days. The young Khandu was chosen as chief minister, which doused the rebellion and ensured the return of the rebels who had been supported by the BJP.

It is against this backdrop that some people have been advising Khandu, the 37-year-old new chief minister, not to shift to the building.

Khandu is now operating out of the chief minister's office located at the entrance of the bungalow and from his hilltop private residence where he has a separate office.

A source in the chief minister's office said: "After Pul saab's shocking death, people and politicians have once again started talking that the house being jinxed or cursed. They say it is not favourably disposed towards the incumbents. At this moment, it appears unlikely that the new chief minister will move into the bungalow."

Tuki, 52, who had the longest stay in the bungalow after unseating Gamlin in 2011, told this newspaper that he had carried out some modifications. "The modifications were done according to vaastu but what is destined to happen will happen," he added.

A rationalist aware of the history of the chief minister's bungalow, including what happened to Pul, said it would be wrong to link any house with the fate of its residents.

"Instead of finding fault with the house or the building, people should try and understand what actually happened to each of its residents," said Srinivas Natekar, a former banker and now the secretary of the Karnataka State Rationalists Federation in Hassan district.

"Each person who died in the house would have died of some very specific causes. Anyone who blames the house is just turning away from the truth," he said.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160818/jsp/frontpage/story_103079.jsp#.V7Uh6GWMC9Y