Prime Minister Narendra Modi started an e-auction earlier this week of all the gifts and mementos that he had received in the last one year which would go on till 3rd October. The auction is being carried out by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and is already a big hit amongst the masses.
The auction has already seen some intense bidding wars and it seems that it would not be stopping until the auction ends. Of the over 2,500 mementos which have been put up for sale through auction to the highest bidder, a photo stand shot to limelight on Monday. Carrying a base price of just Rs 500 and a message from PM Modi in Gujarati, the photo stand was sold for a whopping Rs 1 crore, a report in The Indian Express said.
To be a part of the auction, you need to visit the website and place your bids. The mementos are also on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Jaipur House, near India Gate from 11:00 to 08:00 PM.
Continuing a practice I have always believed in!
All those gifts and mementos I have received in the last one year would be getting auctioned starting today till 3rd October. These mementoes would be on display at the NGMA near India Gate in Delhi.
Do visit to have a look! pic.twitter.com/vYRNvmjPQ1
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 14, 2019
A silver Kalash (urn) with a coconut on top gifted to Prime Minister Modi by Gujarat’s Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has also fetched Rs 1 crore during the auction. The silver Kalash had a base price of Rs 18,000 set for the e-auction and it received the biggest attention. Besides the stand and the Kalash, other items like daggers, shawls, paintings, and more than a thousand portraits of PM Modi were part of the auction.
The proceeds of the ongoing e-auction will go to the Namami Gange project.’Namami Gange’ is one of the PM Modi’s most ambitious of projects and he is determined to make it a success buoyed by the recent results.
Earlier, in 2016, the famous, ‘Narendra Damodardas Modi’ monogrammed as pinstripes suit of PM Modi, was hammered for a record amount of Rs 4.31 crore. The amount that was received at that time was too invested in the cleaning of river Ganga. The suit was worn by PM Narendra Modi during his meeting with the then US President Barack Obama. A lot of controversies broke around the suit but finally, it was auctioned and was bought by Laljibhai Patel, a diamond baron and private airline owner of Gujarat. Interestingly, at that time too, PM Modi had not demanded a single penny from the auction and donated the whole for the national cause; unlike some other leaders like Mamata Banerjee, selling her paintings for crores of rupees to hide their “good deeds”.
A twitter user applauded Modi’s gesture and compared it to the earlier political parties that used to be in power saying “In contrast – one political family was known for hoarding gifts received from Foreign Dignitaries, Heads of State, etc. Official gifts are supposed to go to Government Toshakhana, I understand.” It is safe to say which political family the tweeter was referring to, but, some things are best left unsaid.
In contrast – one political family was known for hoarding gifts received from Foreign Dignitaries, Heads of State etc. Official gifts are supposed to go to Government Toshakhana, I understand.
— GhoseSpot (@SandipGhose) September 14, 2019
In addition to the revenue the mementos e-auction will bring in the coffers of the Namami gange project, it will also impart an important message of “sharing with the community” through this practice. Surely, this commendable step by Prime Minister Modi is going to inspire the next generation of leaders who will be motivated to put India first and not worry about personal possession, riches or glory, something which the country’s PM has adhered to.
