Power Dressing

How The Election Wardrobe Of Politicians Showcases Their Ideology

- Chinki Sinha

Clothes have long been visual shorthand for netas to communicate their politics. So, if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s half-sleeved kurtas and well-groomed appearance give the impression of a man who knows his mind and likes order in everything he does, his primary political opponent, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, portrays a youthful image in his kurta-pyjama and sneakers. Sister Priyanka evokes the image of her grandmother, Indira Gandhi, with her short, wavy hair and brightly coloured cotton handloom saris. Matching her sari for sari is textiles minister Smriti Irani. West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, on the other hand, is a picture of austerity in a white sari with coloured borders, a dress code she stuck to even at the recent wedding in the Ambani household. BSP supremo Mayawati eschews the sari altogether, opting instead for the casual salwar-kameez, in her favorite colour, pink. In the south, politicians keep it simple: white shirt with white veshti.

‘I AM EVERYONE’

Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India

Campaigning for the BJP

No one knows the import of power dressing better than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. From successfully coopting the Nehru jacket and making it the ‘Modi vest’, as South Korean president Moon Jaei-in called it in a tweet, to launching the half-sleeved ‘Modi kurta’, the prime minister has given the world of political fashion much to talk about.

He carries the same aesthetic to the campaign trail, opting for muted, pastel-shaded kurtas, and teaming them up with elaborate headgear or colourful scarves, following in the tradition of political leaders wearing the attire of the places they visit. If he wore the japi hat while campaigning in Odisha, in Pune, he traded it for an elaborate pagdi.