Bengaluru: Come elections and business usually booms for astrologers as politicians of all hues turn to them to learn their fate. But for astrologers of Mandya, these Lok Sahba polls are proving a dampner in a way they could not have anticipated.
The "palm" symbol they use to popularise their services is thought to so closely resemble the hand symbol of the Congress that poll officers on Monday went around the city covering it on the display boards of astrologers, to stop voters from being "influenced" by it.
Having clearly not predicted such an outcome of the polls for themselves, the astrologers could only watch mutely as poll officers virtually shut down their business as the model code of conduct kicked in for the April 18 and 23 Lok Sabha poll in Karnataka.
None of the astrologers were spared as they all have display boards painted with the palm symbol to attract customers as the poll officers diligently covered it, especially in public places frequented by villagers from the surrounding rural areas. The "palms" will remain covered till April 23 and the men who claim to tell the future, will have no choice but to admit that this is not the future they had foretold for themselves!
