CHANDIGARH: Kurta pyjamas styled after those worn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi are in demand among politicians in Punjab and other states in the election season, and tailors are busy completing the orders.
“This season, the business is doing good. It is better than the last Lok Sabha polls and the 2017 Assembly elections. In this election, the trend is 50-50, as political leaders are preferring both Narendra Modi- and Rahul Gandhi-style kurta pyjamas. In the last parliamentary elections it was just Modi-style,” said Manpreet Singh, owner of Prince Tailors in Muktsar town, in the home district of the Badals
“The short-sleeved kurta with tight pyjamas, or a full-sleeved kurta with a cuff and tight pyjamas, with a sleeveless ‘bandhgala’ jacket is the Modi style, and the Rahul Gandhi style is almost similar but a bit loose, with open sleeves, and the length of the kurta is a little short,’’ says Singh, who has been running the business for 25 years, having taken it over from his father.
He says, “We take a month to complete an order, and this time around there has been a lot of rush for the last few months. The rates are between Rs 2,500 and Rs 10,000 for a normal kurta pyjama. It could be of khaddar or cotton. For the high-end customers who want Italian linen and fine cotton, the price is between Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000. ‘’
Another leading tailor, TS Namdhari Tailors (Muktsarwale) at Zirakpur, near Chandigarh, is also seeing a lot of rush. Union Minister of state for human resource development, Satya Pal Singh, and Sukhpal Singh Khaira, president of Punjab Ekta Party, have placed their orders at this shop.
“We are taking abut fifteen days to get an order finished, and the price ranges between Rs 2,500 and Rs 15,000, depending on the cloth,” says Bhagwan Singh, owner of TS Namdhari Tailors.