Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar to visit 'jinxed' Chamarajanagar tomorrow

BANGALORE: Unlike his predecessors who had avoided visiting the jinxed Chamarajanagar, Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has decided to go to the town to inaugurate developmental works there tomorrow.

"I am going to Chamarajanagar tomorrow to inaugurate various development works and offer prayers at M M Hills Temple, not to prove wrong the myth attached to the town," he told reporters here.

The jinx attached to Chamarajnagar town, located 61 kms from Mysore, is that any Chief Minister visiting it will lose his post within six months of visit.

Shettar said it was his duty as the Chief Minister to visit all the districts including Chamarajanagar to understand people's problems there.

The Chief Minister said he had visited all the districts including Chamarajnagar and held review meetings when he was the Revenue Minister.

The jinx started doing rounds in the 80s after S R Bommai and Veerendra Patil lost power after they visited the town. Successive Chief Ministers from S Bangrappa to Dharam Singh stayed away from the town.

However, Singh's successor JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy braved the odds and paid a visit to Chamarajnagar on May 28, 2007, becoming the first Chief Minister to be at the town in 16 years.

Responding to a query, Shettar said he would convene one more meeting with Deputy Commissioners of all districts to solve drinking water problem.

Assembly elections are due in the state in coming May.