Bangalore, Oct 5: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is set to visit the ‘jinxed’ town Chamarajnagar on October 7 to unveil various development programmes.
He will become the first chief minister to visit the town within six months of assuming office.
It is believed in a section of poiltical circles that a chief minister will lose office within six months of visiting the town. Hence, successive chief ministers since 1990 have either avoided it or visited at the fag end of their tenure.
The Chamarajnagar jinx is said to have gained ground in 1980s when the then chief ministers, S R Bommai and Veerendra Patil, lost power after their visits to the town. All the successsive chief ministers, from S Bangarappa to N Dharam Singh, stayed away from the town.
Kumaraswamy, who succeeded Singh, visited the town in about five months before the end of his 20 months’ tenure. He was the first chief minister to visit the town after a gap of 16 years. Incidentally, the JD(S)-BJP coalition government headed by Kumaraswamy collapsed soon after his visit.
The BJP chief ministers, B S Yeddyurappa and D V Sadananda Gowda, remained off the town during their tenure.
Jagadish Shettar, who succeeded Gowda, visited the town (in January 2013), at the fag end of his tenure.
Manasvini launch
Siddaramaiah is scheduled to arrive in Chamarajnagar at 12 noon on October 7. He will be accompanied by Co-operation Minister H S Mahadev Prasad, who is also in-charge minister of Chamarajnagar.
He is scheduled, among others, to launch Manasvini scheme, a social security pension for unmarried women who are above 40 years of age belonging to below poverty line families.
Divorced women who are above 40 years and belong to the BPL families are also entitled to get the monthly pension of Rs 500 under the scheme.
Chamarajnagar Deputy Commissioner A M Kunjappa said the chief minister will hold a review meeting with the officers and the elected representatives of Chamarajnagar. The meeting is being organised on an open ground, and public will be allowed to witness the meeting. The chief minister will take stock of the ongoing development works and give appropriate directions to the officials, he added.
Foundation stone
Besides, the chief minister will lay foundation stone for several development projects that include construction of nine students’ hostels, five warehousing corporation godowns and an RTO building.
Meanwhile, Hebbal Block Congress leaders led by H M Revanna performed a ‘shanti homa’ at Kodandarama temple on Friday to ward off any evil influence on Siddaramaiah during his visit to Chamarajnagar town.
He will be first chief minister to do so within six months of assuming office
