The death (of an MLA) sparked off an impassioned debate, which called into question the construction and layout of (the new) building (of the) Vidhan Sabha (occupied) in August, 1996. Singh was the twelfth legislator to die since the shift. With 24 employees also meeting the same fate, most legislators were convinced that the building had cast a malefic influence on them.

"The complex has not been built in keeping with the principles of vaastu", says Gopal Bhargava, MLA from Rchli ... Legislators were quick to classify the structure -which won its architect, the famed Charles Correa, the Aga Khan award for architecture - a disaster zone. Among the charges laid at its doorstep are that ... the eleventh Vidhan Sabha earned the distinction of losing the largest number of MLAs, nine to date, and helped make history when for the first time a minister, Likhiram Kanware, was stabbed to death allegedly by Naxalites. The 'evil effects of the building are also seen behind the fortnight-long disruption of Assembly proceedings after the police beat up Vijay Shah, MLA from Harsud ...

Those who spout vaastu say problems are bound to crop up as the building faces south and is circular, not the ideal specifications according to the shastra. Brijmohan Agarwal, MLA from Raipur, also terms as inauspicious the fact that the Vidhan Bhavan design is similar to that of the Sanchi Stupa, a memorial to the Buddha ... (Thus)  linked to death. Vaastu shastri Dr. K.C. Agarwal of the Bhartiya Vastukala Anushandhan Kendra echoes the idea ... "Building on land which was used in the past for burial or cremation can be inauspicious."

As it turns out, the compound does hold the tomb of a Muslim fakir, Abbasgarh ke Baba ...

Remedies include holding pujas and yagnas to pacify evil spirits. Although the Vidhan Sabha Employees Cooperative Credit Society had funded two yagnas on behalf of Assembly Speaker Sriniwas Tiwari, Bhargava suggests that a huge yagna be organised and all the MLAs asked to participate ... Even Chief Minister Digvijay Singh is game to holding a ceremony to ward off evil. And, so is Leader of the Opposition Dr. Gauri Shankar Shejwar ...

The Indira Gandhi Vidhan Bhavan built at Rs.50.72 crore (had) overshot the construction schedule by eight years ... (Source: The Week, 23 July, 2000)