Chhattisgarh: Fleet of luxury cars & CM Bhupesh Baghel’s 23 fixation

RAIPUR:  People’s obsession with fancy car registration numbers matching numerology is nothing new. There are numerous examples of such people spending lakhs of rupees to secure the desired set of numbers, which they believe will bring them good luck. Politicians also do it to remain strong in the game of power, though some wouldn’t admit it publicly as they don’t want to be seen as superstitious. 

On Friday, the Chhattisgarh government acquired a fleet of new black Toyota Fortuner cars in Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s carcade, each carrying the number BB 0023. “The number 23 is lucky for Bhupesh Baghel. Before becoming the chief minister, he was the state Congress president and travelled on a Scorpio having number 0023. He also owned his personal black Fortuner car with number 0023.

In election year 2023, the government has purchased new vehicles bearing number 0023. That augurs well for him and the party to move on towards yet another victory,” said Congress leader Ajay Sahu.
Ahead of 2018 elections in the state, the then CM Raman Singh of the BJP had got a fleet of 19 Mitsubishi Pajero SUVs with identical numbers ending with ‘004’ for his convoy.

Though Singh dismissed any astrological reasons behind the opted numbers saying he didn’t believe in such numerology or black magic as any number given to him would be lucky he was confident of securing a fourth-term with the luck numbers. It is another matter that the BJP lost the polls. 

New cars for security reasons, say officials
On record, however, officials claim there is no superstition behind choosing the identical numbers, adding that the old cars of the CM had run more than 1.3 lakh kms and had to be replaced for security reasons. The new vehicles come with the latest safety and security features