Jammu & Kashmir Assembly Oath Taking

The elections for the state of Jammu & Kashmir in India were held from November 25, 2014 to December 20, 2014. This was a very peaceful and successful election which saw the populace of J&K come out in large numbers and embrace democracy. The overall voter turnout was 65.23%, which is absolutely unprecedented. Even the area of Kashmir valley, which is indifferent and aloof to the democratic process due to insurgency saw a turnout of almost 59%.

The aspirations of the people were put of hold for a little while because no party got absolute majority. The state was put under the central administration subsequently.

After hectic parleys, the two largest parties – the People Democratic Party (PDP) and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) came together to form a government. This arrangement is indeed promising since these are the two largest parties and can indeed provide the stable government if they can work together for next 5 years.

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was sworn in as the Chief Minister of this government on 1st of March, 2015 at 11.10 AM in Srinagar, J&K State. The source is this TV grab that I captured while watching Mr. Sayeed take oath.

Lets look at the panchanga of the day. The day is Sunday. Sunrise in Srinagar was at 7:05 AM and sunset will be at 6.22 PM. It is Ekadashi tithi of Shukla paksha. The going yoga was Soubhagya and the karana in effect was Vishti. The nakshatra is Punarvasu. In my recommendation for the panchanga for the day, I had indicated to avoid Vishti karana, as it is not considered an auspicious karana. However, the astrologers who set up the time for the ceremony did not want to take that up and for a very good reason. I will come to the reason in just a while. For now, it is worth noting that only the karana is a problem and the rest of the panchanga elements are absolutely right for the purpose of the ceremony.

Punarvasu nakshatra is a great nakshatra for such activities. It has Sattva qualities and is a movable nakshatra whose lord is Jupiter. In the descriptions of nakshatras page for Punarvasu, I have noted that this is a nakshatra for producing give writers/authors, teachers, good salesmen, media persons. Each of these qualities are as relevant in current context of Jammu and Kashmir as never before. People of Jammu and Kashmir have to be good communicators to bring their story in front of the rest of Indian Union. They need to resell their state as the dream destination to not just the people of India, but to the rest of the world also.

Coming to the actual horoscope of the event, it is almost same as that of Arvind Kejriwal’s swearing in horoscope. There are many similarities in the two horoscopes, although many would argue on the face of it that the two governments and situations are totally different – one is a single party government and other is a coalition.

The horoscope of the event is presented below. The Lagna is Taurus and the lagna Nakshatra is Rohini. The lagna lord is Venus, which is in 11th house of Pisces and is exalted. It is further under the drishti of Jupiter, which is the lord of Pisces itself. Pertaining to the rules of choosing a good muhurta, 6th, 8th & 12th houses are empty, which is great. This is the reason why the astrologers have chosen 11.10 to be the time of swearing in and not 2.30 PM. If a horoscope is constructed for 2.30 PM, both 6th and 8th houses are occupied. So, naturally this is a worse malefic configuration than Vishti karana and the choice was correctly made.

The choice of the Lagna is good – Taurus, a fixed sign and ruled by Venus. Like Arvind Kejriwal’s government, this government too will believe in expression and communication. Proactive reaching out to one and all can be expected from this government. The lord of Lagna is exalted in 11th house and hence it is good for money inflow into the state. It is logical, since the BJP government at the center will pour in good amount of money in the state. Exactly like the other horoscope, 9th and 10th house lord Saturn is in Kendra (7th house) causing another raja yoga. 4th house lord Sun is in 10th house. This is a good position for Sun as well as for the 4th house indications. However, Sun is its detriment sign both in rashi as well as Navamsha. It is “vargottama” by some standards, but in detriment nonetheless. This is another parallel with Kejriwal’s oath taking ceremony, where Sun was in debilitation. Here, Sun is in detriment.

Jupiter, the lord of 8th house is exalted in 3rd house and is retrograde. This may be considered good for longevity of the government, because this indicates that the party workers and MLAs will not go against the government. The presence of Saturn in the 7th house is interesting. Saturn is yoga-karaka, whose position in 7th house should be good for the coalition government. However, it will not take away the natural instincts of Saturn, which is to cause delay and to cause rift in the BJP/PDP alliance. The sign in 7th house is Scorpio, which is known more for cold facts and logic and less for communication. This means that there will be constant rumblings between the coalition partners, but it may not lead to break of relationships.

Ascendant lord, which is Venus is placed in 11th house of material instincts. This government will look very closely towards the money coming in towards J&K through trade. In my opinion, this chart shows good amount of aid being pumped into the state. 2nd and 5th Lord Mercury is in 9th house of Saturn, which is  favourable position. It is aspected by Jupiter, who is a malefic in this chart. However, overall, this chart is not bad for the finances of the government.

Venus in 11th is a good placement for women. This also signifies that the other major power center is CM’s daughter – Ms. Mahbooba Mufti.

This Venus is afflicted by Rahu and Mars, which is owner of 7th house (maraka) and 12th dusthana house (indicating sedition & misfortune). Mars afflicts Moon as well. Rahu afflicts Lagna lord as well lagna in this horoscope. This means that confusion will continue in the minds of the leaders. Armed strife in the state will continue.

Rahu’s presence in 5th house aspected by Mars from its position in house 11 shows constant threats against the leadership in the state.