GUWAHATI: Is the official residence of Arunachal Pradesh chief minister jinxed? It claimed the fourth victim in former Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, who committed suicide early Tuesday morning.
The two-storey building, located in a sprawling area at Niti Vihar in Arunachal capital Itanagar, had former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu as its first occupant. He was killed in a chopper crash in 2011 within months after moving to it following its construction.
After Khandu’s death, Jarbam Gamlin had taken over as the hill state’s chief minister in May 2011. He could serve in the post for barely a few months until he resigned in October that year in the wake of months’ long violence in the state unleashed allegedly by the supporters of Nabam Tuki protesting his appointment. He died of illness in November, 2014.
Subsequently, Tuki took over as the chief minister but he too faced dissidence leading to his ouster in February as most MLAs of his party, Congress, defected to the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) leading to the installation of the Pul-led PPA government. Tuki returned to the hot seat last month after the Supreme Court had reinstated the Congress government but he had to make way for Pema Khandu, who is the son of Dorjee Khandu.
Vastu experts had long back suggested modification to the chief minister’s official residence to prevent tragedies. Rajkumar Jhanjri, the Guwahati-based noted Vastu specialist, had once visited the bungalow during Tuki’s tenure.
“To seek my advice, the then chief minister Nabam Tuki had called me. During my visit, I had observed that the boring for water was in the south-west direction. But according to Vastu, it should have been north-east ward. I had also noticed fault in the building’s north-east portion. I suggested modification but the faults were partially corrected,” Jhanjri told Express.
Pul continued staying in the bungalow even after Pema Khandu had taken over as the chief minister last month. Reports suggest he was to have vacated it shortly.