Clinton may not visit Ranthambor

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, APRIL 7. The Ranthambhor tigers will probably miss the former US President, Mr. Bill Clinton, this time as there is no scheduled programme for him to visit the Project Tiger Sanctuary in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan. The sanctuary where he had spotted Bhamboo Ram, a big male tiger, was one of the places that Mr.Clinton had been to last year, apart from Naila village and Amber Fort.

All details are not available about the programme of Mr. Clinton, who is arriving here on a two-day visit to the Pink City on Sunday afternoon. One of the places he is sure to visit is the City Palace and the Sawai Man Singh Museum inside the palace complex in the Walled City area. During the previous visit Mr. Clinton could not make it to the City Palace, a favorite destination for the VVIPs visiting Jaipur, though his daughter Miss. Chelsea had been there.

At the City Palace, the former US President would be shown an Atlas printed at Nuremberg and presented by the German priest, Father Strobl in 1725 to Sawai Jai Singh II, the builder of Jaipur. The atlas is said to be only one of its kind and has America on it. A bronze statue of a Red Indian, also gifted to the founder ruler of Jaipur also would be shown to Mr. Clinton.

The Clinton entourage is expected to arrive straight from the Sanganer airport to the City Palace in the afternoon where they would be received by the former ruler, Brig (Retd.).Bhawani Singh and his son-in-law, Mr. Narendra Singh at the Rajendra Pol. In the museum, Mr. Clinton would be shown first the textile section and then the art gallery.

Before moving to the armory section, the guests would stop at Diwan-e-Khas where the huge silver goblets, which have a mention in the Guiness Book of World Record are kept. The Director General of the City Palace Museum, Mr. Yaduvendra Sahai said that the items which were sent from the Palace for the Festival of India in the USA also would be shown to Mr.Clinton. The lone carpet which represented India at the exhibition titled, ``Flowers Underfoot'' at the Metropolitan Museum, New York a few years back also could be an item of interest to the guests, Mr. Sahai said.

Though Naila residents are expectant, Mr. Clinton this time may skip the village which he never got tired of talking about ever since his previous visit but would opt for the Naila Fort. The Fort, a property recently acquired by Mr. Vicky Oberoi, vice- chairman of the Oberoi group, is said to be a quaint place exclusively made up atop the hillock over Naila village.

The Rajasthan Government as such has no involvement in the programmes of Mr. Clinton other than making arrangements which the protocol demands. Ms. Bina Kak, the Minister of State for Tourism, who conducted Mr. Clinton at Amber Fort during the previous visit told The Hindu that the State did not want to ``impose'' itself on Mr. Clinton when he was on a ``private visit''.

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