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Before gods go to sleep, Raje does house-warming

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, JUNE 28. Before the gods again go back to sleep for a longer interval, the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje, carried out the much awaited "grih pravesh'' at her sprawling official residence, 8 Civil Lines, here today. Ms.Raje, a firm believer in grand old traditions, will start living in the newly decked up bungalow only from July 4.

The formal house warming was carried out in a hurry before everything was ready for the first woman occupant of the bungalow for the Chief Minister adjoining Raj Bhawan, as hereafter the gods are due for a long period of sleep, "Dev shayan''. Ever since she took over as Chief Minister last December, Ms.Raje has been staying in a house belonging to a party sympathizer in the far away Vaishali Nagar of the City.

Ms.Raje has been seemingly waiting for the repair and beautification works to be completed in the bungalow which was previously occupied by the former Congress Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot. There were reports that the State Public Works Department spent a handsome Rs.1 crore on repairs and additions, though the authorities here denied that kind of "extravagance''.

Ms.Raje was accompanied by her son and MP from Jhalawar, Dushyant Singh, and her family members when the prayers heralded their entry into the house. She herself fed the "kanyas''(girl children) and touched their feet before stepping inside the house.

Also present were the president of the State Bharatiya Janata Party, Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi, her parliamentary secretary, Bhawani Singh Rajawat, and party leader, Chandraraj Singhvi, besides Ministers, Prabulal Saini, Yunus Khan and Babulal Verma.

The State had witnessed a large number of marriages on the previous day, the wedding processions choking the City roads here till late night, with a large number of couples tying the knots before the gods' took the long wink.

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• Rajasthan resolves to protect its share of water
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