It is boom time for astrologers, pundits, najumis (fortune-tellers) as candidates in Assam are queuing up at their doors to align the stars in their favour. The ultimate aim is to gain a ticket and win the election.
Some are even performing special pujas here and outside the state to improve their prospects.
The BJP MP and Lok Sabha candidate from Dibrugarh, Rameswar Teli, offered prayers at Tilinga mandir at Bordubi in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district on Friday morning to seek blessings before he went to file his nomination. He was accompanied by chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, cabinet minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other colleagues, party workers and thousands of supporters.
“When the elections approach, politicians not only from Assam but also from other states come to us to learn about their poll prospects or to perform special pujas for a better result,” Dhuni Wale Baba said at Kamakhya temple in Guwahati. “Everyday I get phone calls from politicians across Assam and even Delhi but I perform pujas only for those who believe in the divine.”
Akhileshwar Mishra Shastri, a priest at Hanuman temple in Tinsukia, who hails from Gopalganj in Bihar, came into limelight after his prediction that the BJP will come to power and Sarbananda Sonowal will be the chief minister in 2016 became true. “I scan solar and lunar phases of the leaders’ kundli (birth chart) and carry out calculations of planetary movements. I rely solely on my readings of their kundli,” he said.
Several politicians are also offering pujas at Dakshineswar temple in Calcutta and at Ajmer sharif.
In 2016, during campaigning in Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered prayers to Goddess Kamakhya and Sonowal prayed at Uttar Kamalabari Xatra in Majuli.
“Sonowal wears gems and rings on all his fingers and leaders seek blessings everywhere during election. If everything is left to God then what is the need for systems? In this way, the leaders herd the masses towards superstitious practices. They should refrain from such practices,” said Abhijit Khataniar, headmaster at Modern Academy here, who is a rationalist.
