On Dhanteras, PM Modi glitters in gold in Surat jewellery shops

Jewellery shops in Surat are selling gold and silver items with the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi embossed on them and jewellers claimed these items did brisk business on Dhanteras Monday.

A jewellery shop in Parle Point designed gold items in different shapes with Modi's 3D image placed inside a frame.

The image of BJP president Amit Shah has also been framed similarly in gold at some outlets, Deepak Choksi, owner of Khushaldas Jewellery here said. He said the images of both leaders together are present in some pieces.

"This is the first time we decided to do something like this, and to our delight, the gold items are selling very well. We have images of Modi and Shah both separately and together done in gold and encased in a photo frame," Choksi said.

He claimed he received an "unbelievable response" from the people who visited his shop on Monday on the occasion of Dhanteras.

These items are priced between Rs 15,000 and Rs 3.5 lakh, Choksi said.

"With Modi getting international awards and his popularity extending beyond the country, he is now an international figure. We decided on this to capture his popularity among the people," he claimed.

Another jewellery shop in the city, Kala Mandir Jewellers, is selling gold and silver bars having images of Modi and former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee embossed on them.

Its owner, Mehul Soni, said he stumbled upon the idea looking at the popularity of Modi, adding that items in gold were available in weights of 1 to 10 grams and silver ones in the 1 gram to 1 kg range.

"We wanted to increase our sales, and therefore, we thought why not use Modi's image. Thanks to his popularity, our sales have increased this Dhanteras, and we have also become popular with the public," Soni said.