Kozhikode, Sep 12 (IANS) A.P. Abdullakutty, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MP, who is not aware about his exact date of birth, said that he approached a Nadi astrologer “just out of curiosity” during his visit to Vaitheeswaran Koil at Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu.Nadi astrology is based on the belief that the past, present and future of all human beings were foreseen by ancient Hindu sages and are written about in palm leaf manuscripts.

Abdullakutty, who represents Kannur in north Kerala, was commenting on an article in a Malayalam travel magazine in which he said that he sought the help of a Nadi astrologer at Vaitheeswaran Koil to find his date of birth, which he says his family could not provide.

As CPI-M publicly professes its stand against religious rituals and beliefs, the article could cause embarrassment to the party. Abdullakutty is considered close to the Achuthanandan faction in CPI-M.

Earlier, Abdullakutty’s travel to Mecca to perform Umra had created controversy in the party.

“Our party wants its members to keep away from superstition and religious rituals. I visited Vaitheeswaran Koil as a tourist. People visit religious places as believers and tourists,” Abdullakutty told IANS by phone from Hyderabad Friday.

Abdullakutty said he approached the Nadi astrologer just out of curiosity.

In the article, Abduallakutty says that he had asked the astrologer to read from the manuscripts about his birth and family. The details he got from the astrologer were almost correct.

“I approached the astrologer out of curiosity but not out of any belief. I don’t have my exact date of birth just like many others here in Muslim and Harijan communities. In our family no one was there to keep a written record of my date of birth. Therefore, I just enquired about it,” he said.

The MP said he did not expect any controversy over the issue. “Till now nobody has enquired with me about my visit to Koil.”

Responding to CPI-M MP’s visit to the astrologer, a senior leader of the Congress from Kannur, K. Sudhakaran, said: “There is nothing new in communist leaders visiting temples or meeting astrologers.”

“Many CPI-M leaders visit temples privately. Abdullakutty did it publicly. In CPI-M, strict atheism was practiced only by leaders of yesteryears,” he added.

A.N. Shamseer, state secretary of CPI-M’s student wing, Student Federation of India (SFI), said that he was not aware of the issue.