Khattar breaks Satnali jinx, becomes CM once again

vinder Saini

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Tribune News Service

Mahendragarh, October 28

Taking oath as Chief Minister again, Manohar Lal Khattar has broken the ‘jinx’ that a chief minister who addresses a public meeting in Satnali town in the district does not return to power in the state.

Khattar had visited Satnali, 25 km away from here on the Loharu road, on September 1 and sought votes from the people by addressing a public meeting during his Jan Aashirwad Yatra.

Interestingly, Khattar had visited Satnali after 14 years. In 2005, then CM Om Prakash Chautala had visited Satnali to address a rally during Assembly elections. Chautala could not retain power in 2005 elections and the Congress formed the state government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who served as CM for more than nine years but did not visit Satnali due to the ‘jinxed’ tag, said Mahabir Singh, an elderly resident of Satnali.

Sources said the superstition had prevailed in the town since 1967 when then CM Bhagwat Dayal Sharma passed through Satnali and could not return to power. Similarly, other Chief Ministers like Choudhry Devi Lal visited the town in 1988, Banarsi Das Gupta in 1990, Bansi Lal in 1998 and Om Prakash Chautala in 2005, but they did not become CM again. In 1992, CM Bhajan Lal had shifted his rally venue from Satnali to a nearby village but the jinx was felt again when the Congress was voted out of power in the 1996 Assembly poll, the sources added.

Monu Shekawat, district chief of the BJP Yuva Morch, said the ‘jinxed’ tag was a stigma on Satnali which cost people of this town dear in terms of development. “Khattar Sahib has given a major relief to locals by ending the superstition. Now, Satnali hopes to see development after a long time,” he added.