Like film industry and sports, politics is also full of sentiments, blind faiths and superstitions.
We have often seen ministers looking for muhurthams and going by astrology to take oath or occupy official chambers.
Over a period of time, it has become an established feeling in the politics that certain portfolios in the state cabinets are jinxed and anybody who is given such a portfolio will not last long in the post or face debacles in politics.
One such portfolio in the Telangana cabinet is said to be medical and health portfolio.
Many believe that this portfolio is a jinxed one and whoever is allotted this portfolio faces troubles in the political career.
Take the case of Eatala Rajender, who was hounded of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and was forced to join the BJP after he was charged with encroachment of lands and sacked from the cabinet by TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
As long as he was holding the finance portfolio during the first stint of the TRS government, he enjoyed good position and was commanding a lot of influence in the party and the government.
But troubles started for him, after he was allotted the medical and health portfolio.
Though he discharged his duties sincerely, he was always looked down upon with suspicion by the boss, fearing that he would stage a revolt in the party. Finally, Rajender was sacked from the cabinet.
Rajender was the third health minister to be a victim of this jinxed portfolio, the first one being Tatikonda Rajaiah, a Dalit leader from Station Ghanpur constituency in Warangal. He was the first health minister of Telangana and also was given the deputy chief minister post.
But within months of being inducted into the cabinet, Rajaiah was also sacked on the allegations of corruption, besides mishandling of Swine Flu situation in the state. He has been continuing the party with a complete low-profile.
The second minister to face this jinx was C Laxma Reddy, who replaced Rajaiah. Reddy was till then holding energy portfolio and soon after he was entrusted with medical and health portfolio, troubles began for him.
In the second term of the TRS government, KCR completely sidelined him and did not take him into the cabinet. He has also been virtually in political hibernation for the last three years.
After sacking Rajender, the portfolio was retained by the chief minister himself. And his image graph has started going down since then. The defeat of the TRS in Huzurabad by-election is a big blow to his image.
Perhaps that is the reason why KCR entrusted the medical and health portfolio to Harish Rao, who is also holding the portfolio of finance. Now, the jinx will begin to haunt Harish. If he can break this jinx, he will be setting a new trend!
During the combined Andhra Pradesh regime, similar jinx was associated with endowments portfolio. All those who held this portfolio faced turbulences in their political career.
It started with Maganti Ravindranath Chowdary, who died within hours of taking charge as endowments minister in the Channa Reddy cabinet in 1989.
Later, Dandu Sivarama Raju, Gade Venkat Reddy, M Satyanarayana Rao, J C Diwakar Reddy, Juvvadi Ratnakar Rao, Jupalli Krishna Rao, Ponnala Lakshmaiah and C Ramachandraiah – all have faced political debacles and troubles in life.
