For all his claims that he doesn’t believe in superstition, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, whose stars have been twinkling a little less brightly of late, has succumbed to it.

The CM, who is on a mission to enforce the Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Act in Karnataka, seems to have turned a victim of superstition himself as he decided to purchase a brand new car after a baby crow sat on the old one.

A baby crow sat on the right side of Siddaramaiah’s car that was parked on the premises of his official residence ‘Krishna’ recently on June 2. In spite of his staff’s efforts move it away, it remained sitting on the car for about 10 minutes.

Read more: ‘Godsent’ baby crow on Siddaramaiah’s car gets TV channels talking

Astrologers predicted that this was a bad omen for the CM and to his position. It is widely known that the CM doesn’t consider such notions seriously.

But now, the CM has decided to change his car. He bought a white 2016 model high-end Fortuner worth ₹35 lakh. The car has already arrived at the government-run Kumara Krupa guest house. The car is yet to be registered and the CM is likely to use this new car from next week.

The last car, incidentally, was used by the chief minister for a good three years. Speculation is rife on what made him get a new one. Almost all Kannada TV channels had panel discussions with astrologers and soothsayers on June 2 when the crow sat on his car. Most of the astrologers predicted that this was a bad omen for Karnataka. Siddaramaiah’s decision to get a new car may or may not have been prompted by these discussions.