Modi suit auctioned at RS. 4.31Cr: Rs 5 crore bid loses for being 2 minutes late

SURAT: The suit that the prime minister flaunted during US President Barack Obama’s Republic Day visit and had become the swirl of the visual media is unlikely to be seen again after Surat-based Dharmanandan Diamonds, a Rs 5,000-crore company, takes it away from a Modi mannequin at the Science Centre art gallery for Rs 4.31 crore.

The company jumped into the fray on the last day and began by bidding Rs 1.61 crore. Eventually, Lalji Patel, owner of Dharmanandan, bettered the offer of Rs 3.61 crore made at 4.35pm. Of the 11 bids received on the last day, five were by Dharmanandan.

The atmosphere got charged up around 4pm when Bhavnagar-based ship-breaker Komalkant Sharma raised his bid from Rs 1.48 crore to Rs 2.70 crore. Within minutes Dharmanandan upped it – a revised bid of Rs 2.85 crore – and eventually walked away with the trophy garments.

Two days ago, diamond barons spearheading the Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) project had decided on making the highest bid to get the suit to be kept as a memorabilia in the SDB complex. Dharmanandan Diamonds is one of founding members of SDB, which his touted to be the world’s largest diamond bourse.

“We had resolved not to let PM Modi’s suit go out of Surat,” said Hitesh Patel, 35, managing director, Dharmanandan Diamonds. “We’re happy that our company would be part of the Ganga cleaning mission in some way,” said Lalji Patel, the 60-year-old owner of Dharmanandan Diamonds. Patel has pioneered a river-interlinking project in his native village of Ugamedi in Bhavnagar.

The tailored suit that Modi wore during US President Barack Obama’s visit last month had invited criticism from his political opponents who described it as an extravaganza amid poverty that India lives in.

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Source:timesofindia

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