National

Chief Minister does a mali act

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot normally does not talk on caste lines and keeps a safe distance from his own caste people. However, on Thursday a large gathering comprising his Cabinet colleagues, senior bureaucrats and media persons witnessed him merrily declaring his caste affiliations. “Now I did the job of a real mali,” said Mr. Gehlot, who belongs to the mali (gardener) community, after planting a sapling of the Mexican flowering tree, Tabebuia rosea, on the premises of the Shiksha Sankul building which houses the offices of the Education Department. The occasion was the launch of the revolutionary greening project, “Harit Rajasthan”.

“A new beginning has been made,” he. said as the Ministers had their own picks from the 300-odd species the Forest and the Rural Development departments are planning to distribute during the campaign for the next five years.

Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal planted a moulshree, while Social Welfare Minister Bina Kak chose a kachnar. Tribal Area Development Minister Mahendrajeet Malviya sought and got a neem. Mr. Gehlot’s “mali act” as well as the declaration of it won him many instant admirers.

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