Surat-based textile factory owner Rajesh Juneja placed a bid of whopping Rs1.21 crore on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pinstripe suit on the first day of the three-day auction in Surat on Wednesday. The auction drew a huge crowd. Modi wore the suit at a breakfast meeting with US President Barack Obama at Hyderabad House in the national Capital in January. Besides the bandhgala suit, 455 other gift items received by Modi in the last nine months are going under the hammer at Science Centre Gallery. Also on display are 361 items gifted to Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
“The final auction will take place on February 20,” said Surat District Collector. “Rajesh Juneja’s bidding is not final. The bidding is still open for the suit as well as other gift items and the suit might fetch even a bigger amount,” said a source from the Collectorate. Juneja told the media he was impressed by PM Modi and would like to put on display Modi’s suit at his textile unit to attract customers. “I have made a bid as per my capacity. If someone makes a higher bid, I will challenge up to Rs40 lakh further,” he added.
The auction process for the suit, displayed on Modi’s real-sized statue, was initiated with a bid of Rs11 lakh and went on to Rs51 lakh, Rs1 crore and Rs1.11 crore. NRI Viren Chokshi made a bid of Rs1.11 crore, which was outclassed by Juneja with the bid of Rs1.21 crore. Ramesh Virani, an NRI, had gifted pinstripe suit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gandhinagar this year. According to sources, Virani had gifted the suit to the PM while extending an invitation to his son’s wedding. The Prime Minister wore the suit exactly on the same day of the marriage ceremony, but he couldn’t attend the wedding of Virani’s son because of his pre-scheduled occupation.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday as many as 89 bidders applied for other items gifted to Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel. The fund generated from CM’s artifacts will be donated to Girl Child Education Fund. Modi had set the tradition of auctioning the gifts he received as Chief Minister and now as a Prime Minister he is doing the same.