Modi's 'name-striped' suit auctioned for Rs.4.31 crore

Posted on 23rd Feb 2015 11:06 am by mohit kumar

Surat, Feb 20 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi's famous 'name-striped' suit went under the hammer for a staggering Rs.4.31 crore at a charity auction here Friday, officials said.

The final winning bid was placed by top-notch diamond merchant Lalji Patel, chairman of the Dharmanandan Diamonds Pvt. Ltd. of Surat.

The suit was the star attraction among 455 items that went under the hammer. The proceeds of the auction will go towards the prime minister's Clean Ganga mission.

The suit, which attracted global publicity, was designed by Ahmedabad-based designer Ramesh Kumar of Modi's regular tailor Jade Blue.

It has the name 'Narendra Damodardas Modi' weaved into it in glittering gold letters.

The suit kicked up a political row with opposition parties accusing the prime minister of indulging in 'narcissism' and questioned how a 'tea-vendor' could afford the expensive suit, reportedly costing around Rs.1 million.

At the three-day auction, it was put on a life-size mannequin resembling Modi, as the bidders examined it closely before announcing their bids.

All the 455 items - which went on auction Wednesday at the SMC Science Convention Centre - were gifted to Modi in India and abroad in the past nine months.

They included one gold article, 13 silver, 46 brass-copper-metallic artefacts, 14 ceramic and glass items, 31 wooden articles, 99 picture frames, 237 clothes including T-shirts from Australia, and 14 miscellaneous items.

Since his days as the Gujarat chief minister, Modi introduced the tradition to auction such gifts for various charities and had raised around Rs.95 crore in his 13 years in the saddle.

Other news

WTC Point Table: India benefits from South Africa's defeat, it is almost certain to play the Test champion final for the second time in a row

It is almost certain that India will play in the final of the World Test Championship. In the Tes

BJP forgot the code of conduct and sent SMS of publicity; 32.82% voting till 1 pm

There is an election in Bihar. Voting is to be held in three phases. Voting is going on in 94 sea

Since the beginning of the epidemic in America, 13 million children have been infected with Covid-19, this figure has increased rapidly during the last four weeks.

According to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), approximately 13 mill

Facebook to work with Jio on some big projects that open up business opportunities: Zuckerburg

New Delhi, Business Desk. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has reached an agreemen

Himachal CM advocates preservation of customs

Shimla, March 23 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Monday said he has a

Maharashtra: Muslim student wrote a post in support of Nupur Sharma, police arrested

The case of Nupur Sharma, suspended from BJP, does not seem to be cooling down. Now a Muslim yout

Preparation to vaccinate 300 million people in the country by July-August; Instructions for uploading health workers' data to Covin

The central government has planned to apply corona vaccine to 300 million people by July-August n

Reliance said, bringing 5G technology for high-speed internet in India

Most of the big newspapers have covered the 43rd annual meeting of Reliance Industries Limited on

Parliament Security Breach: Police reached the house of the mastermind of the Parliament ruckus, mother said - Lalit's marriage was fixed.

Darbhanga's Bahera police station once again reached the house of Lalit Jha, accused in the Parli

Dengue is not less dangerous than Corona, about 400 million people are hunted every year, vaccine has not yet been ready

Dengue vaccine not found, more than 100 countries million people affected every year Aedes mosqui