It all started with a black crow sitting on the bonnet of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah's official car. Now a new car has been bought for him.

For a man who is believed to be an atheist and for a leader who throughout his political career has advocated against superstition, this has turned out to be a black mark on his stand.



On June 2, it was reported that a crow perched itself on Siddaramaiah's official car. Twenty minutes later, the crow refused to budge, and had to be physically moved or removed. The twist in the tale came a few weeks later when a new car was ordered. The chief minister though, clearing the air off the camera, said that the new car was bought because the old one needed repairs.

PROPOSAL TO BUY A NEW CAR TAKEN 2 MONTHS AGO?

Sources from the chief minister's office have said that there was a proposal to buy a new Toyota Fortuner two months ago and it was incidental that the crow sat on the old car. Officials in the chief minister's office have also said under anonymity that the car had run more than 2 lakh kms and developed technical snags. But many believe that it was the crow that drew away the old car.

OPPOSITION TARGETS SIDDARAMAIAH

However, the opposition is now using this as ammunition to train their guns on CM Siddaramaiah.

"The new car exposes the double standard of Siddaramaiah. For a man, who swears to be a rationalist, here is a classic case of not practising what he preaches," said Karnataka BJP general secretary, CT Ravi.