Surat: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pinstripe monogrammed bandhgala suit, which hogged limelight during President Barack Obama’s visit, went up for auction in the diamond city on Wednesday.
As the auction is underway in Surat, Rs 1 crore bid was made by Suresh Agarwal. Earlier, Rajubhai Agarwal, a Surat resident, made Rs 51 lakh bid. The bid started at Rs 11 lakh.
The suit that created waves and kicked up a political storm was auctioned today along with 455 items that Modi had received as gifts during his nearly nine-month long tenure to generate funds for the Prime Minister’s ambitious ‘Clean India Mission’.
Meanwhile, reacting to the auction, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’ Brien termed the exercise as damage control public relations and said it has nothing to do with Ganga cleaning.
PM Modi wore the deep blue bandhgala suit for a joint appearance with US President Barack Obama at Hyderabad House when he stepped out for a ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ meet and a press conference with the US President in New Delhi last month.
Surat Municipal Commissioner Milind Toravane said the event is being organised at SMC’s Science Convention Centre at city-lights road in Surat as the Prime Minister’s Office(PMO) had decided to hold the auction event in the city.
Modi during his chief ministerial tenure in Gujarat had initiated a trend to auction the gifts that he received in a year and it was donated to Kanya Kelavani Yojna for girl child education, he said.
Whether it is with his well-fitted bandhgala suits, his half-sleeved kurta and brightly coloured Nehru jackets or his choice of an orange shawl — Modi’s style statements have always been eye-catching — so much so that during the Obamas’ visit for the country’s 66th Republic Day celebrations, he stole the thunder from the US First Lady as far as fashion was concerned.
