Celestial advice helps inspire Indian politicians as they hit campaign trail

INDIAN astrologers and "godmen" are dusting down their cosmic calendars and honing their star reading skills to help politicians in parliamentary elections later this month.

Scores of mendicants and yogis, or religious men, known for "delivering" electoral successes are busy organising the heavens for politicians. In the lead up to an uncertain future, many politicians do not cat, travel or hold meetings unless their celestial minders declare the moment propitious shades of Ronald Reagan.

"The greater the uncertainty more the need for astrologers as guides into the unknown," said one astrologer who has guided senior MPs through the maze of Indian politics and elections.

Irrespective of their political affiliations, few Indian politicians arc without a string of tame astrologers, palmists numerologists or occultists on their payroll, dominating every public and private move.

It is common knowledge in ruling Congress party circles that prime minister, Mr Narasimha Rao, is a staunch believer in astrologers and soothsayers.

He follows a cosmic timetable calculated by personalised "experts" whose collective advice not only governs all his political moves but also dictates cabinet reshuffles, election dates and overseas travel.

Mr Rao recently tried to make doubly sure of garnering star power by travelling south to India's most famous Tirupati temple. There he prostrated himself before Lord Venkateshara a Hindu deity, to ensure victory for his Congress party.

He also visited a renowned holy man's ashram in the southern state of Karnataka, after which he suggested dates to the Election Commission for general elections.

The vast majority of Indians grow up with astrology and palmistry. Most people have janam patris, or horoscopes an elaborate grouping of Sanskrit symbols and, diagrams prepared on the basis of date, place and exact time of birth aided by ancient logarithm tables, which detail star movement.

And though Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, ridiculed astrologers, succeeding premiers, including Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv, have been among their most willing clients.

Mr Chandra Shekhar, a stopgap prime minister in 1991 for three months was, perhaps India's only modern politician to publicly defend the practice of astrology.

But his army of "star merchants" were unable to predict his downfall after less than four months in office.

Even Mr T. N. Seshan, India's highly principled Chief Election Commissioner, who presides over the entire electoral process, makes no move without consulting the stars. When he left his job as India's cabinet secretary, the country's most senior civil servant, in the late 1980s, he timed precisely the hand over of his position to the second, in keeping with the star charts.

Unfortunately, Mr Seshan's auspicious time differed from the one chosen by his successor, also a diehard numerologist. A lengthy debate led to a bureaucratic compromise, under which the hand over was extended by 60 seconds.