Netas
Spend Up To Rs 50L Per Puja, Even Fly In Priests To Perform
Rituals
Seethalakshmi S |
TNN (Times Of India. News Paper)
Bangalore:
Gloomy times don’t seem to bother our netas. They
are spending lakhs of rupees on performing homas/pujas seeking
the blessings of God.
And the cost? Rs 40 lakh to Rs 50 lakh per homa! The turnover
for the astrology industry is a whopping Rs 500 crore to
Rs 600 crore in Elections 2009, say those who know the business.
‘‘We have 62 homas/pujas exclusively for elections.
The cost depends on the size of the constituency. A homa
for Bangalore Central will be relatively cheaper than that
for Bangalore Rural,’’ said noted astrologer
K N Somayaji, who is leading a team of 300 priests, currently
performing the rituals for politicians.
And if you thought outsourcing existed only in the IT industry,
think again. Over 300 Namboodries (priests from Kerala)
have been deployed to perform pujas and homas for politicians.
‘‘We have confirmed orders from all political
parties across the country except the Communist party. While
some have asked for Athirudra and Sahasrajaadi, some others
want Vashikarana (to bring others under your control) and
Viparitha Prathyangara to be performed to increase their
chances of winning. Some are a combination of homa and while
some have meditation and other rituals,’’ he
stated.
Some go on for days while some of them must be held for
72 hours uninterrupted. This election the bookings have
gone up by 20% to 30%. Pujas are in great demand. Interestingly,
if a Congress and BJP candidate wants to perform the same
ritual then there will be conflict of interest. So astrologers
follow the first-cum-first basis.
The cost includes the priests’ consultation fee which
ranges from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per day, his logistics
and materials. If the constituency is far, then priests
are flown in special aircraft too. This because priests
who perform it need to visit the constituency too.
Its perhaps only elections that bring all religions together.
Astrologers confirmed that politicians from all religions
are performing the pujas and homas. For now, secularism
seems to be intact.
