Uttarakhand: Agrawal's resignation as minister revives talks of 'jinxed' R-2 bungalow

Dehradun: Premchand Agrawal's resignation as a cabinet minister in Uttarakhand has revived talks of a jinx associated with the R-2 bungalow in Yamuna Colony here that its occupants do not complete their term.

Agrawal, who was allotted the R-2 bungalow in 2022, left it a day after resigning as a cabinet minister following a major controversy over his remarks in the state Assembly against the hill people.

Built for the officers of the irrigation department in undivided Uttar Pradesh, the Yamuna Colony bungalows served as official residences for ministers after the formation of Uttarakhand in 2000.

In the first elected government of the state headed by Narayan Dutt Tiwari in 2002, the R-2 bungalow was allotted to Irrigation Minister Shoorveer Singh Sajwan, who was removed before from his position he completed his term in July 2004.

Sajwan was among the five ministers who were dropped to curtail the size of the cabinet in accordance with the provisions of the 91st constitutional amendment, which limited the size of cabinets in the country and states.

However, in 2007, Harak Singh Rawat lived in the bungalow as the leader of opposition and completed his term.

He continued living in the bungalow even after becoming a minister in 2012.

But in 2016, after revolting against the Harish Rawat government along with other Congress MLAs, Harak Singh Rawat had to leave the bungalow, along with the ministerial post and membership of the Assembly.

Agrawal's resignation has revived the R-2 bungalow's image as being "jinxed".

A similar superstitious belief is associated with the chief minister's official residence in Dehradun.

Vijay Bahuguna came to live in the bungalow after becoming the chief minister in 2012, but had to step down just two years later.

Harish Rawat, who replaced Bahuguna as the chief minister, did not live in that house.

He used the Bijapur state guesthouse located nearby as his residence and lived in it throughout his term.

"When I became the chief minister, I had no such information about the bungalow. But as I was preparing to move in, the political situation became such that I could not go there. I had thought of going (to the bungalow) after the election but by then, the government itself had changed," the Congress leader said when asked about it.

Trivendra Singh Rawat, who became the chief minister after the 2017 Assembly polls, chose to ignore the talks of the jinx associated with the chief minister's residence and decided to live there, but had to resign in 2021 before completing his term.

However, the bungalow has proved to be very auspicious for present Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

While living here, he not only brought the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power for a second consecutive term, but also became the chief minister again, creating a new electoral history in the hill state.