From superstition to black magic to vaastu: You name it, the Karnataka election has it

There are many candidates who want a signal free drive while going to sign their nomination papers. This is because they consider the colour red a bad omen.

Black magic, vaastu, superstition have all been at play in numerous elections that have been held in Karnataka.

In the 2013 elections a majority of the candidates across parties had chosen April 15 2013 as the date to file their nominations as it was considered to be the most auspicious day of the month.

Pointing the nomination papers towards the north is a stand process that almost all candidates follow. Moreover they only use green or blue ink to sign the papers as red and black are considered to be bad for them.

In the 2008 elections, one Congress candidate had even worn six layers of clothing to file his nomination papers. There are also some candidates who believe that wearing a gold chain around their waist is good omen.

There are others who match the colour of underwear with their birthstones colour. For instance if the birthstone is a ruby, then the candidate wears a red underwear to file his nominations.

In the 2008 elections, Yatish, the Congress candidate wore 20 rings to file his nomination papers. This means he had worn two rings on each finger.

Revanna, H D Kumaraswamy's brother and son of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda always wears gold chains including one around his waist before filing his nomination papers.

There are some who campaign only at 5.30 am, whole others do it after 5 pm. This is because of the fear of Banamati, a kind of black magic.

In the 2013 elections, there were allegations against many candidates for indulging in black magic. For instance a large number of candidates had visited Kollegala in Chamrajanagar district as it is known for its black magic.

There are also few candidates who reach the office to file their nomination papers by avoiding traffic signals. They plan their trip in such a way that it is a signal free drive. This is because red signals mean bad luck.

The JD(S) has many a time announced announced 122 candidates in the first list. This is because Deve Gowda believes in numerology and considers 5 to be his lucky number. The numerical, 122 add up to 5.

Moreover during the elections, Gowda always moves into his son-in-law's house in Bengaluru as it is vaastu-compliant. His son Revanna too has built a similar house. This is after his supporters blamed the vaastu of his house for him losing out on becoming the chief minister of the state.

During the elections, the vastu experts are in high demand. In the previous two elections, they would charge anything between Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000 per visit to a candidate's house. They would suggest changes or relocations to another house. This only shows the importance of vaastu in the Karnataka assembly elections.