Councillors attribute the unnatural deaths of their counterparts to the civic building's architectural plan, which makes it appear like a mausoleum.
Councillors attribute the unnatural deaths of their counterparts to the civic building's architectural plan, which makes it appear like a mausoleum. Even as the political circles are recovering from the murder of corporator Diwane Ali, astrologers have blamed 'bad vaastu' of the BBMP's council building for the string of unfortunate events in civic corridors. And the councillors are leaving no stone unturned to negate the ill effects of this 'phenomenon'. Some councillors have appealed to the mayor to alter the architecture of the building, named after Kempe Gowda, the founder of the city. They feel that the building plan is the "root of evil".
"Vaastu is a science, not just a belief system. If there are defects with the building plan, what is wrong in rectifying them?" said B V Ganesh, a BJP councilloru00a0 from Chamarajapet and chairman of education and sports committee. "However, changing the plan is for the authorities to decide."
Apart from Ganesh, several other councillors too believe that incidents like Ali's murder are happening because of the building. They enumerate incidents where councillor s met with an untimely death after the council moved from Mayo Hall to the current building in 1995.
Unfortunate eventsAccording to them, at least eight councillors died an untimely death. Venkatachala, a councilloru00a0 from Azadnagarm was murdered by his follower in 1996, while Shailaja, a councilloru00a0 representing Hombegowda ward, was killed by her boyfriend in 2001.
Ali's murder is the latest such incident. Dunde Gowda, Lokesh, Narasimhamurthy, Ramiah, Muniappa died before their time. However, they rule out the murder of councilloru00a0 Rotti Krishna in 1990 as being because of the vaastu defect.
"The issue was discussed in 2000. The building's dome was identified as the main problem area. There was talk of converting it into a flat roof. Somehow, that did not happen," said former mayor and Congress councilloru00a0 K Chandrashekar.
According to K Gangadhar, the official vaastu consultant to the BJP, the building has several other vaastu defects. "The dome makes the building seem like a tomb. Those who are inside it naturally face the possibility of untimely death," he said.
Wrong placement"The building is aligned in northeasterly fashion, which is blocking the solar energy and allowing negative vibes to get enter," Gangadhar added. Also, the placement of doors is not proper, he said, adding that the water fountains were installed in a manner that attracts negative influences.
"It's because of this that corruption and immoral practices among councillors are on the rise," he said. The mayor's seat is placed near the fireside, because of which his health is bound to suffer, he added.
"This is an important issue and needs to be addressed," said Gangadhar. Mayor S K Nataraj denied these claims. "Some councillors approached me with a plea to alter the building plan, but we are not considering it. The appeal only encourages superstition among people," he said.
The government has been asked to beef up the security in and around the council building, Nataraj said, adding that this has nothing to do with Ali's murder. "The size of the council has increased with Bangalore Mahanagara Palike becoming Bruhata Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. Security must be tightened to keep up with this change," Nataraj said.
Black magic scare
A heap of vermilion, rice and broken coconut found near the BBMP council building sparked panic yesterday. Many thought someone was practicing black magic. However, it was later learnt that these were meant for a puja at a temple nearby. However, this did not stop some of them from going on "pilgrimage to ward off evil".
| Wheelchair mayor |
| >>Councillors who believe in vaastu cite the example of Padmavathi Gangadhara Gowda, the first mayor to take office in the new building.
>>She was bound to a wheelchair after she slipped at her home. And now, Nataraj, who is diabetic, came to the last council meeting after his toe was amputated because of gangrene. |
