31 bypolls in 20 years in Raj: Conduct ‘hawan’ or change number of seat

By Archana Sharma

Jaipur, Jan 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) A total of 27 bypolls have been held in Rajasthan between 2000 to 2019 while four bypolls are scheduled in the month of March this year after the death of four sitting MLAs of the desert state which makes it 31 by-elections in last 20 years.

Alleging that "all is not well with the Rajasthan Assembly since it shifted its premises to a new building in 2001", former BJP MLA Gyanchand Ahuja has asked Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to conduct "hawan, kirtan and poojan" in House premises to put a check on the ever rising number of bypolls in the state that have been quite frequent.

The Ramgarh MLA also confirmed that at least 200 MLAs never got to complete their tenure of five years in the past 20 years. Either a few died, or were jailed, however, some others' fate was better and they became Parliamentarians and the seats were left vacant.

In the last four months, four sitting MLAs have died in Rajasthan.

In October last year, Congress MLA Kailash Trivedi passed away. In November, BJP MLA Kiran Maheshwari also passed away. In December, Congress MLA Master Bhanwarlal Meghwal passed away and in January, Gajendra Singh Shaktawat passed away.

According to Ahuja, "Since the time the assembly has been shifted in the new building in 2001, never ever have all 200 MLAs been able to complete their tenure which was not the case earlier.

"This is not normal. Pooja and kirtan are important for purification of the Rajasthan Assembly. There is a crematorium right adjacent to the Assembly which has brought in a 'vastu dosh' here," he added.

The BJP MLA further said that earlier the Assembly was running inside the walled city before 2001 and all 200 MLAs had completed their terms "in the pink of their health".

He also urged Gehlot that the AC gas should not pass towards the crematorium.

Earlier, a Kalash was kept here under the BJP rule and no deaths were reported, however, under the Congress' regime that Kalash was removed and the death chain has again started.

He also accused the Chief Minister for all the wrong decisions taken in this matter and not putting proper emphasis on the step to be taken to manage the vastu.

"The CM starts assembly sessions mid-week, especially on Tuesday, which is not an auspicious day to make fresh beginnings," he added.

The issue of the Rajasthan Assembly being "haunted" was raised earlier in 2018 too, when lawmakers discussed the presence of "ghosts" in the complex. A few lawmakers had even requested the Speaker to complete the proceedings before 12 noon, while others called for a "purification ritual" fearing the worst.

At that time, the then Speaker Kailash Meghwal had said that a separate debate should be held on this issue.

When IANS contacted Meghwal on the matter, he, however, said, "No comments."

Although, he did not altogether deny the presence of supernatural elements.

"Christians call it Ghosts, Muslims call it saya and we call it bhoot. So there must be some reality in its presence," he said, adding, "I follow Arya Samaj principles and hence stay away from all such discussions."

A renowned astrologer from Rajasthan, Deepak Joshi said, "There is a serious Vaastu dosh in the building. Its northeast part is cut off from the building which consists of a cremation ground.

"Also there are gates at the southeast, which is not a good sign.

"The building is constructed on a cremation ground which indicates that the king can never have a stable life. Hence a stable tenure of 200 is never completed since the time construction of this building started here.

"If a seat is increased or decreased, this phenomenon can stop as per numerology 2 denotes instability."

In 2017-18 also, two MLAs, including Nathdwara MLA Kalyan Singh Chauhan and Kirti Kumari, who represented the Mandalgarh constituency, died within six months.

In 2001, the then MLAs Bhimsen Chaudhary and Bhikha Bhai passed away. In 2002, Congress MLA Kishan Motwani and BJP MLA Jagat Singh Daima too passed away.

Then, MLA Rooplal Meena passed away in 2003, while the following year Ram Singh Vishnoi, a Minister in the then Gehlot government, passed away. In 2006, MLAs Arun Singh and Nathuram Ahari died.

The terms from 2008-2013 and 2013-2018 were difficult times for sitting MLAs. Mundawar legislator Dharmapal Chaudhary died in April 2018.

Even during the Rajasthan Assembly election campaign back in 2018, Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh from Ramgarh died, as a result of which polls were conducted for only 199 constituencies.

An Election Commission official meanwhile confirmed that frequent bypolls have been held in state since the assembly shifted here.

Five bypolls were held between 2001 and 2002 out of which four bypolls were held in 2002.

Again from 2003 to 2008, five bypolls were held out of which one were held in 2004 while one was held in 2005 and two in 2009.

From 2008-2013, two bypolls were held while 2013-18 saw six bypolls out of which four bypolls were held in 2014 and two in 2013.

In fact, seven bypolls were held in 2000, when construction of the new assembly was going on in full swing.

He also confirmed that many MLAs in the state are conducting pooja, hawan etc on personal level to safeguard themselves from ghost affect.

Source: IANS