Dress code

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi said in Amethi on Tuesday that unlike Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "suit-boot ki sarkar", the Congress cared for people in "shirts, chappals and kurta-pyjamas". A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader quipped that the comment again showed the 45-year-old's ignorance. Not only did he leave out the millions in India who wore dhoti, lungi, veshti and mundu, he also seemed unaware of stalwarts such as Dalit leader B R Ambedkar, who considered 'suit-boot' a symbol of upward social mobility. Interestingly, for the BJP leadership, dhoti has been the preferred dress option, though the new crop has shifted to the more convenient kurta-pyjama. Left leaders, barring West Bengal stalwarts such as Jyoti Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, wear shirt and trousers. Socialist Ram Manohar Lohia and his followers preferred khadi kurta-pyjama but the current crop, including Mulayam Singh Yadav, are always clad in dhoti. The Congress doesn't seem to have such an unwritten dress code: its leaders are seen wearing everything from kurta-pyjama to 'suit-boot'.