Astrologer fixes swearing-in time at 1239 hrs

Ahmedabad, Dec 24 (UNI) The timing of swearing-in ceremony -- 1239 hrs -- of Narendra Modi as Chief Minister of Gujarat was fixed after consulting an astrologer, sources in BJP said here.

Mr Modi will take the oath of office and secrecy at Sardar Patel Stadium here tomorrow at 1239 hours.

There was much confusion in the day over the timing, with information department saying that the oath-taking ceremony will take place at 1350 hrs.

But the BJP leaders, at the first meeting of newly-elected MLAs, said the oath-taking ceromony will take place at 1230 hrs.

BJP sources say the emphasis on particular timing has an astrological significance and December 25 is also the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who can not attend the function due to ill-health. Mr Vajpayee had attended the oath-taking ceremony of Mr Modi in 2002.

Senior BJP leaders confirmed that before deciding time and venue of the swearing-in ceremony, the astrologers who had predicted that Mr Modi will again become the Chief Minister of the state about six months ago, were consulted.

A leading astrologer, said BJP's victory has much to do with Mr Modi's own star position. If someone else was leading the party, the results might have been different.

Dr Pankaj Nagar, a PhD in astrology, said if Mr Modi is sworn-in between 1239 hrs and 1339 hrs, the planetary position at that time indicates that due to combination of Mercury, Sun and Jupiter in tenth house implies that he will emerge stronger in coming days. He will defeat his rivals and play a major role at national politics after September 2009.

''It signals a good omen for the new government. The stars will help the Chief Minister to achieve his targets and will catapult him to stardom even at the national level,'' says the astrologer.

UNI