Prime Minister Narendra Modi's controversial suit that had his name "Narendra Damodardas Modi' monogrammed as pinstripes in gold made it to the Guinness Book of World Records.
The world record tracking organisation has said that the suit was the most expensive suit (clothing) sold. It was bought at an auction for Rs. 4,31,31,311 (£448,944; $693,174) in February 2015 by a diamond merchant, Laljibhai Tulsibai Patel, who is a resident of Surat, Gujarat.
Among the other bidders were the owners of Diamond Aeronautics Company. However, Patel had said that he would bid even if the cost exceeded Rs. 5 crore.
The suit was reportedly gifted to Modi by businessman Ramesh Virani, an NRI, on the occasion of his son's wedding. Modi had won the famous suit when he met United States President Barack Obama on Jan. 26, 2015.
#ModiSuit sold at auction for Rs. 43,131,311 enters Guinness World Records for being the most expensive suit sold pic.twitter.com/K8eOnLIM0p
— ANI (@ANI_news) August 20, 2016
The proceeds from the auction were donated to the Namami Gange Fund, a project to clean the Ganga river. Apart from the suit, 800 other items that PM Modi had received were sold off at the event.
The suit had raked up controversy after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had mocked the prime minister, saying that the government was "suit-boot ki sarkar." Recently, Gandhi highlighted the rising prices of pulses in India by calling the Indian prime minister "Arhar Modi," mocking the BJP's election slogan, "Har har Modi, ghar ghar Modi."
