Surat: The pinstripe-suit worn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Republic Day which bore the words "Narendra Damodardas Modi" woven into it in tiny letters is being auctioned in Surat, Gujarat. Interested buyers can bid till 5 PM on Friday.
The highest bidding till now has been of Rs 1.11 crore by a textile businessman, Suresh Agarwal. The first bid, however, was of Rs 51 lakh put in by Rajubhai Agarwal, a BJP leader.
The suit was worn by the Prime Minister just once and is currently on sale along with more than 450 other gifts he has received.
The navy and gold suit, on auction, is worn by a statue of PM Modi which is displayed at the Science Centre in the city. It was tailored by Jade Blue in Ahmedabad, the clothing chain that handles the Prime Minister's wardrobe.
The opposition parties had mocked at the Prime Minister for narcissism when he wore this suit on US President Barack Obama's visit to India last month on the occasion of Republic Day.
Congress scion Rahul Gandhi had also taken a jibe at the PM by commenting at a rally in Delhi that he wore a "10 lakh-rupee suit Made in UK."
Another party leader, Ajay Maken today had said, “"How can such an expensive gift to the PM be private? What did this person get in return?"
When Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had made it a tradition to auction his gifts for charity. In the past, he had given away around 18,000 items, proceeds of which went into a scheme for educating girls.
The money obtained by this auction is likely to be used for Ganga clean-up, a pet project of the PM.
