The saying goes that whoever has flown over the spot from where the Narmada river originates in Amarkantak, has lost his post or life soon. This strong belief of the people in power has led politicians and leaders to avoid flying to Amarkantak and most of the time, they enter Amarkantak through road. According to local political observers, there were a slew of “mis-happenings” that had led to this superstition which started from the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was killed two years after she visited Amarkantak in 1982.
Just months after former BJP Chief Minister Sunderlal Patwa visited Amarkantak through air, he lost his chair in 1992 in the wake of the Babri mosque demolition. Same was the case with former CM and Congress stalwart Arjun Singh, who was removed from the party in 1995 after he visited Amarkantak. Former MP CM and present Union minister Uma Bharti, too, had flown to the holy place in 2004 soon after she had registered a majestic win over Digvijaya Singh in 2003, but she, too, had to relinquish her post soon after the visit. The last of any such incidents, according to political observers, took place in 2007 when former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat flew to Amarkantak in 2007 and as fate would have it, he soon lost his chair.
Though no scientific reasons can be attributed to the events that took place in the life of the leaders after they flew into Amarkantak, the belief has become a part of the “system” in Amarkantak and this belief is kept in mind while devising the travel programmes of dignitaries by the local officials.