In the Pimpri-Chinchwad civic elections, clothes and dressing style appear to have been carefully considered by not only women but men also.
For most male candidates, campaigning is not just about approaching voters, convincing them with viewpoints and seeking votes. It also means wearing shirts costing Rs25,000, designer footwear, thick gold chains, heavy rings and bracelets and branded goggles. “Candidates no longer try to project themselves as the common man. They are flashy and more brazen this time,” said political observers.
Most candidates prefer expensive-yet-simple looking material like silk cotton, khadi silk or muslin. Some who do not want to appear extravagant go for khadi, linen, jute or cotton. The most preferred is Bandra-based fashion designer, Madhav Agasti who has designed outfits for Bal Thackeray, Gopinath Munde, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Sharad Pawar, Vilasrao Deshmukh and Manohar Joshi. Agasti said, “After 1995, the consciousness about dressing style increased in politics”.
Young activist of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Kapil Pawar said, “For daily wear, the workers purchase ready-made shirts and kurtas from Ahmednagar, Pune or Mumbai. White is the most preferred colour and khadi, cotton or linen are the preferred material.” Wearing goggles is also a trend among young politicians and their supporters, the most preferred being mirror-effect glasses and a golden frame. Wearing gold jewellery like thick chains, heavy rings and bracelets is also the in-thing among politicians, particularly the men who wear it to attract attention.
