As send-off gift, Nepal PM gets his portrait made from discarded cloth pieces

A portrait of Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ made from discarded cloth pieces was gifted to him by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday as the dignitary wrapped up his MP visit that he had started by relishing “Indori poha”.

The portrait was made by artist Anita Pal of Indore, which has been adjudged as India’s cleanest city for six consecutive years.

“I made Prachanda’s image in just one day from pieces of clothes collected at a Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (RRR) centre run by the Indore Municipal Corporation. These (cloth) pieces were gathered by a tailor,” she told PTI.

Through the portrait, the artist said, she tried to convey Indore’s cleanliness culture.

Chouhan along with a few cabinet colleagues gave a warm send-off to the PM of the Himalayan nation by garlanding him at Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport here before he and his delegation headed for New Delhi.

On Friday, Prachanda visited the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of IT giant TCS on the city's Super Corridor, Additional District Magistrate RS Mandloi told PTI.

Under the Swachh mission, RRR centres have been opened in Sirmaur, Indore, to make discarded and unusable material usable again, officials said. Locals dump things like unused clothes, toys, shoes, furniture, books and spectacles at these centres, said officials.

Speaking at a dinner hosted by CM Chouhan on Friday, the Nepalese premier said that a consensus was reached in many areas in his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“As the Nepal prime minister, this is my fourth visit to India. The way the consensus was reached in the fields of connectivity, water resources and energy in the meeting with Modi will go a long way,” Prachanda said.

Modi said that the ties between the two countries will be taken to Himalayan heights, and “this is a moment of pride and joy for us”, he added.

Upon his return to Nepal, Prachanda said, he will tell his countrymen that the ties between the two neighbours have entered a new phase of history with a new dimension added to it, and it needs to be nurtured by all.

Prachanda began his four-day visit to India on Wednesday.

His meeting with Modi on Thursday saw the two countries signing seven agreements and launching six projects including new railway services.

On his arrival at Indore airport on Friday morning, Prachanda and his delegation were given a warm welcome by Chouhan and his cabinet colleagues Tulsiram Silawat, Usha Thakur and Indore BJP MP Shankar Lalwani.

The two leaders were seen having ‘Indori poha’, a popular sweet-sour snack, at the airport lounge.

Prachanda then left by road for the famous Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain, around 55 km from Indore. He visited Asia’s largest bio-CNG plant ‘Gobar-Dhan’ in MP’s commercial capital on Saturday.