Karnataka CM shuns 'jinxed' bungalow; stays at present home

Not wanting to move out of his ‘lucky’ bungalow, chief minister Siddaramaiah has refused to shift to Cauvery, the bungalow that was selected for him after he got the state’s top job.

Siddaramaiah’s this decision comes shortly after he chose to use the southern door of the CM’s office at Vidhana Soudha instead of the western door — which was used by his predecessor — apparently on the advice of a vaastu expert.

Siddaramaiah has chosen to stay at his present bungalow, at Kumara Park East, which was allotted to him after he became the leader of opposition in the legislative assembly during the tenure of the previous government. On Sunday, one could see workers demolishing a part of the compound wall of the bungalow next to Siddaramaiah’s, reportedly to let the CM use both the bungalows.   

Of late, chief ministers’ preferred bungalows have been Cauvery or Anugraha. Sources close to Siddaramaiah said he decided to stay in the current bungalow on the advice of his well-wishers, who impressed upon him that his current house is lucky for him, as it was while staying here that he got the chief minister’s post. The source said Siddaramaiah has developed a sort of emotional attachment with his dwelling and not too keen to shift elsewhere.

Currently, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar is staying at Cauvery. His predecessor DV Sadananda Gowda had stayed at Anugraha, near Cauvery, during his tenure. Speculation is abuzz that Siddaramaiah is avoiding Cauvery because it is ‘jinxed’.

The Cauvery jinx
Former chief minister JH Patel went into political oblivion after his stay at Cauvery as the chief minister. He failed to even make it to the assembly again after his stint as the CM.
A strong believer in vaastu, HD Deve Gowda as the chief minister had chosen to stay in Anugraha.

When Gowda became the prime minister, the family believed that the house was lucky and his son HD Kumaraswamy chose to stay there when he became the chief minister.

Former speaker of the assembly MV Venkatappa, who stayed in Cauvery could not return to assembly again. The political fate that befell the leaders who stayed in Cauvery has earned it the jinxed tag. It all began with former chief minister R Gundu Rao, who failed to get elected to the assembly after he was forced to quit the chief minister’s post. Another former chief minister, Veerendra Patil, was unceremoniously removed when he fell ill even as his clean administration in 1989 earned the respect of opposition parties. He died soon after that.

S Bangarappa, another strong political leader and a socialist, had tumultuous tenure as a chief minister. He too had chosen to stay at Cauvery. He had to bow out with the taint of corruption in the Classic Computers scam. Siddaramaiah himself had chosen to stay at Cauvery in the mid-1990s as the deputy chief minister, but his tiff with the JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda soon resulted in him losing the post.