That superstition is integral to Karnataka politics has been proved yet again with the Janata Dal (Secular) allegedly performing black magic to invoke a curse on the ruling Congress before handing over the party head office it had occupied in the heart of the city for the last three decades to India's Grand Old Party.

On Monday, when Congress party workers entered the premises, they were horrified to find lemon, chilly, vermilion and unknown materials wrapped in red cloth. They were scared to enter the building till it was "purified". The previous night, the JD(S) had vacated the building after losing it in a protracted legal battle to the Congress.

The Congress directly pointed fingers at the Janata Dal (Secular) supreme leader H.D. Deve Gowda, who allegedly patronises black magic. However, Gowda was quick to dismiss the allegations. A section of the Congress party is now planning a puja to nullify the effect of the alleged black magic on the property.

This is not for the first time that the JD(S) leaders have been accused of performing black magic. When B. S. Yeddyurappa was the CM, he alleged that there was threat to life from the JD(S), as it had performed black magic on him! "Historically, black magic, superstition and Vaastu have been integral to Karnataka politics. Several leading politicians and CMs have tried to please the Dark Lord through pujas," said political historian A. Veerappa.

In other states also, superstition and politics have often gone hand in hand. It is not known whether Haryana's current chief minister is superstitious or not but BJP workers in black clothes were not allowed to enter the venue on October 26 last year when Manohar Lal Khattar was being sworn in as chief minister. BJP workers were told to remove the black clothes as they were 'unlucky'. Current Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal have one thing in common. Both are superstitious.

Both stick to their lucky numbers five and nine. Both take into consideration their respective lucky numbers while taking important decisions. The vehicles owned by both have numbers five and nine respectively. They even conduct important meetings on these dates.

In Maharashtra, Mohan Rawale, Senior Shiv Sena leader and fivetime MP from Mumbai always wears a yellow shirt during election campaigning. This he did on the advice of an astrologer. Rawale followed the advice so strictly that once when his campaign posters wearing shirts of other colours were printed he recalled about 1.5 lakh posters. Ashok Chavan, former CM of Maharashtra, had changed his name to Ashokrao Chavan on the advice of an astrologer. During difficult times in his tenure, he had invited Putaparthi-based Sathya Sai Baba to CM's bungalow in Mumbai. Although the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh have been boasting of developments in Noida, most fear going there.

The belief is that they lose their chair if they visit Noida. Although CM Akhilesh Yadav has inaugurated many developmental schemes for the city, he has done so from Lucknow.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is known to be a staunch believer of Vaastu. The CM has changed his official residence twice and is now planning to shift the state secretariat.

Rao has also appointed an official Vaastu consultant for the Telangana government. IN BIHAR, RJD president Lalu Prasad does not mind wearing his superstitious beliefs on his sleeves. From relocating the swimming pool inside his bungalow to visiting holy men and tantriks, Yadav has often, if not always, taken recourse to such means to build his fortunes.

On Dussehra senior leaders in Madhya Pradesh, like Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and former chief minister and Uma Bharti, perform tantric rituals to ward off the evil eye.