Superstitious State

Maharashtra’s politicians have an uncanny fixation with the occult. The latest spectacle in this long-running obsession comes courtesy of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut and his dire penchant for controversy. His latest claim - that black magic rituals have been performed at the Chief Minister’s official residence, Varsha, supposedly causing Devendra Fadnavis to avoid moving in - is the kind of political theatre that belongs squarely in the realm of outré gossip.

According to Raut, buffalo horns from sacrificed animals at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati were buried in the bungalow’s premises, an alleged curse intended to prevent any Chief Minister from holding onto power. He further insinuates that Eknath Shinde, now the Deputy CM, orchestrated this bizarre ritual to ensure his political longevity. While Raut claims he does not believe in such superstition, he nevertheless insists that whispers among the Varsha staff cannot be ignored. That such whispers are being amplified by a senior leader in Maharashtra’s political establishment is a telling indictment of how deeply superstition pervades even the upper echelons of power.

Fadnavis, who currently resides at the Sagar Bungalow, has dismissed Raut’s allegations as absurd rumours unworthy of a response. His explanation for the delay in shifting to Varsha is pedestrian - minor repairs and his daughter’s board exams. Yet, the controversy underscores how Maharashtra’s political discourse, instead of addressing governance, infrastructure or economic concerns, repeatedly succumbs to medieval-era anxieties.

This fixation on black magic is especially ironic given Maharashtra’s history. The state has been home to towering social reformers – from Mahatma Phule to Prabodhankar Thackeray - all of whom waged ideological battles against regressive superstitions. That today’s politicians invoke ghosts and sorcery in serious political discussions is a betrayal of this progressive legacy.

The hypocrisy is not limited to opposition parties. The BJP, which often portrays itself as a champion of rational governance, has also dabbled in superstition when convenient. Politicians across party lines - from the Shiv Sena to the Congress - have been known to consult astrologers, conduct elaborate rituals before elections and alter office layouts based on Vastu Shastra.

The late rationalist Narendra Dabholkar spent his life fighting such obscurantism, only to be assassinated by religious extremists in 2013. The Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act, which Dabholkar championed, was meant to curb precisely this kind of fearmongering. Yet, Maharashtra’s leaders seem determined to drag the state backwards.

This is not the first time Sanjay Raut, a habitual provocateur, has let loose wild claims in the political arena. His inflammatory rhetoric often overshadows substantive political debate. Yet, the fact that such allegations gain traction at all speaks volumes about the political culture in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra’s leaders should take inspiration from the reformists they so often invoke and focus on modern challenges rather than medieval superstitions. For all the grandstanding about progress, it seems Maharashtra’s politics remains haunted - not by spirits, but by the spectre of irrationality.