After becoming an election issue, it is up for auction and for a purpose. Prime minister Narendra Modi’s controversial bandhgala suit that he wore during US President Barack Obama’s visit to India last month, has been put up auction at Surat.

The suit had kicked up a political storm, and continues to generate interest due to its undisclosed price and nature of its weave. It will be auctioned, along with 455 items that Modi had received as gifts during his nearly nine-month long tenure, to generate funds for the Prime Minister’s ambitious ‘Clean India Mission’

it shows that it is not the cloth but the person who wears it , set its value #modisuitauction #ModiSuit

— kanhaiya sharma (@sharma00ji) February 18, 2015

Already the bids have reached Rs 1 crore for the suit and by the time the auction comes to end in next three days the price may go up considerably in cash rich Surat.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suit, which he wore during his meeting with President Barack Obama last month, along with other 455 items that he received as gifts during his tenure as Prime Minister will be auctioned at a three-day event in Surat,” Surat Municipal Commissioner Milind Toravane said.

I wonder what the person who gets #NamoSuit4Charity will do wid it? Wear it or display it? #modisuitauction

— anjilee istwal (@istee) February 18, 2015

Meanwhile, one NRI businessman has claimed that he gifted the monogrammed suit to the prime minister when he visited the Vibrant Gujarat summit held in January. "I presented the suit to him (PM Modi) when I attended the recent Vibrant Gujarat summit," Ramesh Kumar Bhikabhai Virani said in an interview to a news agency. He also claimed that the speculation about the cost of the suit is untrue.

It was tailored by Jade Blue in Ahmedabad, the clothing chain that handles PM's wardrobe and customised by Bipin Chauhan, designer and owner of Jade Blue.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had alleged that PM wore a ‘10 lakh-rupee suit Made in UK.’
Critics accused him of being "self-obsessed" and "narcissistic" and many had expressed their displeasure on Twitter and Facebook.

After poll rout in Delhi, Modi critics kept mentioning his pin-striped in tweets, cartoons and carticature along with Arvind Kejriwal’s muffler.

During his stint as the chief minister of Gujarat, Mr Modi used to put out gifts received for auction. The proceeds were used in a scheme to educate girls.
 

If you have so much money why not just quietly donate it to charity without buying a suit you know you can't wear????

— Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) February 18, 2015