13 October,2009 07:00 AM IST | | Sanjeev Devasia
That is a possibility, as not a single astrologer has accepted a challenge to predict candidates' fate and win Rs 25 lakh
Before every election, several astrologers are ready with their list of victors and losers.
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But not this time, according to the Maharashtra Andhshraddha Nirmulan Samithi (MANS), an organisation that fights various kinds of superstitions.
MANS says that not a single astrologer has taken up their challenge of predicting the outcome of the Assembly elections and hence winning Rs 25 lakh.
"Our terms and conditions were not that strict, but no astrologer has come forward to take up the challenge.
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The purpose of the contest was to ensure that no astrologer tells later that he had predicted the outcome of the elections," said Nandkishor Talashilkar, working president of MANS's Dadar branch.
Three conditions
According to MANS's first condition, the astrologer have to predict the fate of any 10 candidates in the state.
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The victory margins of any 11 candidates also have to predicted with an error margin of 1,000 votes.
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Thirdly, the astrologers would have to predict the future of five candidates that MANS selected. For this condition, an accuracy of 80 per cent would be accepted.
"We had announced the contest on September 29. However, not a single astrologer has come forward in Mumbai or Maharashtra till now," added Talashilkar.
Future Tense
"The contest seems to be fishy and there are escape routes in the last condition. Besides, the predictive aspect of the science of astrology is a small thing.
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Why should there be an emphasis on proving? Most of the astrological advice is given to people to help them in taking day-to-day decisions.
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Besides, the MANS cannot throw challenges when they don't believe in astrology," said u00a0R D Pala, an astrologer.
Added Sanjay Jumaani, a numerologist and astrologer, "I have never heard about any such contest. I cannot comment without knowingu00a0 the facts."
