Bengaluru: "No one holds on to power eternally. And haven't chief ministers lost power who never visited Chamarajanagar," Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai asked.
He was replying to a query on his stand on the theory of jinx that if any chief minister visits Chamarajanagar, he loses power.
"On several occasions in the past, I have visited Chamarajanagar as water resources minister. It is the duty of the chief minister to visit a district, especially when a district is declared backward as per Nanjundappa report, he said.
"I am doing my duty. Beliefs and superstitions are for others, not for me. The question is not about the jinx, but about the duty of the chief minister. For a chief minister all districts are equal. Therefore, I will visit Chamarajanagar to attend a programme graced by President Ram Nath Kovind," Bommai said.
Tomorrow, the chief minister is attending an event graced by Kovind who will inaugurate a newly-built Teaching Hospital of the Chamarajanagar Institute of Medical Sciences at Chamarajanagar.
Reminded of his father SR Bommai losing the chief minister's post, Bommai said, "Please do not link the visits of chief ministers to Chamarajanagar with them losing power. It is not right."
SR Bommai had lost power after visiting Chamarajanagar in 1989.
The jinx theory began circulating from the times of D Devaraj Urs who lost the chief minister's post within six months of his visit to Chamarajanagar in 1980.
Later, R Gundu Rao, Ramakrishna Hegde and Veerendra Patil lost power after visiting Chamarajanagar. Since these losses were played up in the media, S Bangarappa, M Veerappa Moily, HD Deve Gowda, JH Patel, SM Krishna and N Dharam Singh avoided visiting the district.
Interestingly, when Chamarajanagar celebrated its new district status in 1997, JH Patel did not inaugurate it in Chamarajanagar, but did it on MM Hills in Kollegal.
Krishna did not once visit Chamarajanagar as chief minister. Former chief Kumaraswamy visited and lost power due to some political developments in the state. (UNI)