BENGALURU: When Congress leader DK Shivakumar walked out of prison, he was wearing his regular whites, a wary look and a salt-and-pepper beard. And no smile.
The greying look does make him look different, an impact of the time spent in judicial custody in Tihar Jail, and apparently drew a comment from former AICC president Rahul Gandhi, and his supporters too. Rahul reportedly told Shivakumar to keep it on, so the Karnataka strongman is not going to put blade to beard anytime soon. Rahul has himself sported an unshaved look on and off.
The mystery of the DKS beard deepened nearly a week after his release on bail, with questions being raised as to why Shivakumar, who had never sported a beard ever since he became MLA in 1989, had this sudden growth.
Many leaders who have been visiting him have also raised the question, to which he just smiled and asked if it suits him; most agreed that it did.
During an interaction with the media on Wednesday, Shivakumar got chatty when asked about his new acquisition, and threw back a question, “Should I remove it?” The gathered media was quick to say that it looks good!
Now, this facial hair seems to have set off a trend among DKS’ supporters, with many growing beards and posting selfies on WhatsApp groups — not only from home turf Kanakapura and Ramanagara, but from across the state.
While on the topic, the only other legislator who sports a beard is Shanthinagar MLA NA Haris. While the full-bodied beard has become quite the trend in fashion circles, our netas, it seems, prefer the clean-shaven look. But Haris disagrees, saying that when PM Modi sports a beard, it is trending!