HUBBALLI: A seer of Mylara Lingeshwara temple in Hoovina Hadagali taluk of Vijayanagara
district, who has predicted that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will not last his term, has come in for a severe backlash online.
The seer, Venkappayya Wadeyar, uploaded a video on social media, foretelling the year ahead for Karnataka and its politics.The annual Mylara prophecy about the weather and farmers’ condition is generally well-received. Every year, on a designated day, thousands of devotees from different parts of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh congregate to hear the prophecy of the
Mylara seers.
This year, the crystal ball vision was one of more turmoil on the political front -- that Karnataka will have three chief ministers in the current term, and that Bommai may continue as chief minister only for the next seven months. What follows is more interesting: that the person who will take over as next Karnataka chief minister will sport a beard! The seer went on to add that the Mylara prophecy has always come true, including the present political disturbance.
The seer also predicted that the number of Covid-19 cases will increase in the state, and suggested that people take care of their health and also follow guidelines issued by the government. However, the prediction on Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai invited some sharp comments, and many netizens took the seer to task and asked him to refrain from making unnecessary statements. It’s still not clear whether the other branches of Mylara are in agreement with Venkappayya Wadeyar’s vision of the future.
“We have been seeing parades of seers in Bengaluru, seeking a ministry for their community leaders. The government must stop such practices. Often, seers utter prophecies when asked by the media. But in the case of Vijayanagara, the seer made the video and circulated it on social media,” pointed out a social activist from Hosapete.
Manwhile, the prediction that the next chief minister of Karnataka will have a beard has set off much speculation. Right now, there are only two leaders in the Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party who fit the bill — C T Ravi and B Sriramulu. Some users also pointed out that Basangouda Patil Yatnal from Vijayapura sometimes sports a beard.