Chief Minister Hemant Soren is unlikely to shift in his official Kanke road residence, apparently due to Vastu-woes which are said to have prevented the former CMs to complete their tenure of five years. Senior Soren also had opted to stay at his present official Morhabadi residence after he was elected as the Chief Minister for the third time.
Senior Soren had vacated the house in January 2009 after his humiliating defeat in the Tamar by-poll which led to him losing the CM’s chair followed by President’s rule being imposed in the state for the first time. Though, Junior Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren took a visit of the official CM residence a couple of days back, no direction has been given to the officials of the Building construction department to get it ready for the new Chief Minister. The CM house is left vacant since March after former CM Arjun Munda shifted to his jail road residence.
“Till date no direction has come to us from the Chief Minister in this regard. They are still thinking about it whether to shift in the CM house or not,” said a senior official of the building construction department requesting anonymity. Former CM Arjun Munda, who has a credit of living there for the maximum period of time, also attempted several makeovers to make the place lucky charm for him, but all in vain. As suggested by the vaastu experts, Munda got a temple built in the north-east corner, a fresh coat of paint, new flooring, and a worship room in place of kitchen.
There is a belief in the political circles that the official chief minister's residence situated at Kanke road is not fit from vastu point of view. Previous records indicate that no CM, who lived there, has completed his term. All the previous chief ministers were forced to quit their post in disgrace. First chief minister Babulal Marandi was forced to quit in March 2003 after alliance partners revolted against him. Then came Arjun Munda, who was also forced to quit after independent legislators revolted against him in September 2006.
Similar was the fate of Munda during his second innings and Madhu Koda during his lone stint as chief minister. CM house had been left vacant for the most of the time after Jharkhand coming into being in the year 2000. Shibu Soren, who shifted to the CM house, was also forced to quit after he lost the Tamar assembly poll. Jharkhand's first Chief Minister Babulal Marandi during his tenure was once even advised by a Vaastu expert to move out. Soren might have learned lessons from the fate of the former Chief Ministers and will take a decision after considering the pros and cons of shifting to the CM house.