Bhopal, July 19: If you have always wondered why successful politicians seem to have thick skins, read Sandeep Barve’s book.

According to the Bhopal-based “poll analyst”, elections are won by candidates who can best endure mosquito bites.

This doesn’t mean politicians must rush to follow Rahul Gandhi’s example and spend campaign nights at poor rural homes. All they need to do is ban all mosquito repellents from their residences.

“The more mosquito bites a candidate suffers at home, the likelier he is to win an election,” says Barve, who claims he speaks from his knowledge of astrology, tantra, Vedic techniques and vaastu.

The Bhopal-based astrologer’s Chunao Kaise Jeenten? (How to win elections?) is rich in advice on details like what to eat and which pets to avoid.

Other than trying to domesticate mosquitoes and ensure they never bite his rival, a would-be MP or MLA would do well to keep pigeons, white cows, deer or peacocks at home. He, however, must discard cats and buffaloes.

Parrots bring bad luck, too, however pleasing their habit of repeating the neta’s words may be.

Barve claims his book has already sold 400 copies in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh since it released this week — almost two per Assembly constituency.

And why not? He has already helped 350 candidates win elections over the years at his astrological consultancy, he says.

“Many politicians from various parties have benefited from my expertise. For spiritual reasons, I do not wish to name any of them, because that might cause me to lose my powers,” he tells The Telegraph.

“The book is the first of its kind. It tells candidates everything from the appropriate way of stepping out of home on the day of filing nomination to choice of food during electioneering.”

Candidates -- even the new-age, laptop-savvy ones -- should turn up at the returning officer’s chamber chewing paan. On nomination day, he or she should eat milk rice, jaggery, curd, coriander and cumin seed. No poll-related work on Saturdays, though.

Those ensconced in government bungalows in leafy Lutyens Delhi, beware. Barve prohibits you from having too many trees in your compounds.

The absolute no-nos include pomegranate, papaya, tamarind, peepal, banyan, babool and ber. Barve suggests these should be replaced by tulsi, moneyplant or parijat.

In Bhopal, most MLAs and ministers have papaya and peepal trees at their homes. “Now that we have come to know they can adversely affect our political fortunes, we are planning to chop them down,” said a state minister’s private secretary who did not want himself or his boss identified.

Pity, if cutting the trees means there are less mosquitoes.

Even some who swear by astrology have had trouble digesting Barve’s claims. Senior IAS officer D.S. Mathur, author of four books on astrology, said: “As far as my knowledge goes, astrology can tell what future has in store but it cannot alter it.”

Mathur, who recently retired as union telecom secretary, added: “If an individual has such powers to help others win elections, why is he himself not benefiting from it?”

Barve dismisses the criticism. “I am a poll analyst of repute, a gold medallist (in an astrological course),” he says.

“I’m a jyotishacharya, voice-reader, an expert on vaastu and all forms of tantra. I have been blessed to help others, not myself. Besides, I’m not at all politically inclined.”

What if two rival candidates both follow his advice, which is likely considering the alleged sales?

Barve doesn’t explain.