Up for auction: Bespoke suit with name of India's PM Modi stitched into the pinstripe

A close-up view of Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi's dark pinstripe suit, repeatedly embroidered with the words "Narendra Damodardas Modi". -- PHOTO: REUTERS 
A close-up view of Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi's dark pinstripe suit, repeatedly embroidered with the words "Narendra Damodardas Modi". -- PHOTO: REUTERS 

AHMEDABAD (AFP) - A suit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's name stitched into the pinstripe, worn by him when he met United States President Barack Obama, is to be sold at an auction on Wednesday to raise money to clean the Ganges.

The famously fastidious Prime Minister was mocked for narcissism after wearing the bespoke wool suit with the words "Narendra Damodardas Modi" woven into it in tiny letters when he met the US President in Delhi last month.

It will go on sale, along with more than 450 other gifts the Indian Premier has received, in a three-day auction that starts on Wednesday in the city of Surat in Mr Modi's home state of Gujarat, organisers said.

"These items are gifts that the PM received since he took charge... the items that will be auctioned include his pinstriped suit," Mr Milind Toravane, Surat municipal chief and organiser of the event, told AFP. Mr Toravane said no reserve had been set for the suit.

The money will go towards the clean-up of the Ganges, a pet project of Mr Modi, who has described the pollution of the sacred river as a national shame.

It is not the first time Mr Modi has auctioned off gifts for charity - as chief minister of Gujarat, he gave away some 18,000 items, raising over US$3 million (S$4 million) for girls' education.

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