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Modi '1m-rupee suit' auction begins

Written By blogger on Wednesday, February 18, 2015 | 2:09 AM

A controversial suit worn by Indian PM Narendra Modi and decorated with his own name is being auctioned in his home state of Gujarat.

Mr Modi wore the navy blue pinstripe suit at his meeting with US President Barack Obama in Delhi last month.

But he was severely criticised on social media after reports said it cost nearly 1m rupees ($16,000; £10,000).

The auction proceeds will be used to clean up India's holy and heavily-polluted Ganges river, reports say.

Mr Modi had promised to clean up the Ganges during his campaign speeches last year and his Bharatiya Janata Party government has set an ambitious target to complete the task within three years.

The suit is being auctioned along with more than 450 presents that Mr Modi has received since taking over as the prime minister at a three-day long event beginning in Gujarat's Surat city on Wednesday, the city's municipal chief Milind Toravane told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Surat is the hub of India's thriving diamond trade where rough diamonds are polished and exported.

Officials said no base price had been set for Mr Modi's suit or any of the other presents, which include brass, bronze, silver and gold items.

Senior Congress party politician Jairam Ramesh had called Mr Modi a "megalomaniac" for wearing such a suit, and others accused the prime minister of being "self-obsessed" and "narcissistic".

Mr Modi was snapped in the suit during meetings with Mr Obama during the US president's three-day state visit to India.

Mr Modi is not the first high-profile figure to opt for the pattern - in March 2011 former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was photographed in a similar suit.


Modi '1m-rupee suit' auction begins

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