Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pinstripe suit worn in January 2015, during US President Barack Obama's visit to the country, has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for being the 'Most Expensive Suit sold at Auction'.
Sold for £430,000 to Surat-based diamond merchant Lalji Patel, the navy blue suit with stripes of 'Narendra Damodardas Modi' embroidered on it had attracted a lot of attention, and a controversy. The Guinness Book of World Records has certified that Modi's monogramed suit is the most expensive suit sold for auction. Hitesh Patel, Lalji's son, and managing director of Dharmanand Diamond Private Limited, said, "It is a matter of happiness and pride that the suit has found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. We had applied for the world record around five months back on the suggestion of our company’s HR management team. Within a couple of months, we received a certificate acknowledging that it was the world’s most expensive suit sold at an auction." He said the suit is securely kept at the Dharmanandan factory at Gotalawadi, Katargam.
A statement on the Guinness World Record website said, "The most expensive suit (clothing) sold at auction is Rs. (Rupees) 43,131,311… and was bought by Laljibhai Tulsibai Patel (India), in Surat, Gujarat, India, on 20 February 2015." It added that proceeds from the auction were donated to the Namami Gange Fund, a project to clean up the heavily polluted Ganges River. “We could have spent more to get PM Modi's suit. This is one of the best purchases of my life. I remember meeting Modiji at our house 12 years ago when he was the chief minister of Gujarat,” said Patel.
The suit was the reason the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi called the government "Suit boot ki Sarkar". Reacting to the recent news regarding the suit, Gandhi again tried to troll Modi, saying, "Just rewards for Modiji's immense sacrifice," but once again attacked by Modi fans.
