Party Workers Now Dress to Impress High Command

Crumpled clothes, sports shoes and a day-old stubble: in Maharashtra, that’s the sign of a real Congresswallah.

Loyal Congressmen have always stayed faithful to the examples set by the party’s First Family, the Gandhis. Now, party workers are going one step ahead to prove that imitation is the highest form of flattery, by emulating the dishevelled persona of Rahul Gandhi. Several Congress functionaries have shed their signature clean-shaven, starched kurta-pajama image in favour of Rahul’s working politician look: crumpled kurta folded at the sleeves, and a day-old stubble on the face.

Even the older generation has been touched by the Rahul effect. At a recent orientation programme for newly-elected MLAs at Vidhan Bhavan, 76-year-old Shivajirao Deshmukh, chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, turned out in crinkled clothes, appropriately set off by a salt-and-pepper stubble on his face. “The clean look means you are not moving around amongst the people. When you are moving around the constituency, your clothes are bound to get dirty,” says a senior Congress leader.

The party’s women leaders have taken to keeping the sari pallu firmly on their heads, just the way Soniaji does it. Printed cotton saris have got a new lease of life, and Madam’s sari collection is a favourite topic of conversation. The rakshasutra (the red thread for protection)that adorns Sonia’s wrist has also become an integral part of Congress attire. And to emulate the brisk, purposeful strides of the High Command, many Congresswallahs have replaced slippery indigenous footwear like kolhapuris and chappals with comfortable sports shoes that also afford better grip and pace.

And where do these loyal Congress workers go in their new avatars? According to an office bearer at Tilak Bhavan, the party headquarters in Mumbai, leaders in the state have suddenly taken to visiting poor Dalit families living in far-reaching dustbowls like Vidarbha and Marathwada. Their escapades have, of course, been inspired by similar high-profile outings made by the Gandhi scion.

Once these party loyalists return from a visit to a Dalit outpost, Tilak Bhavan insiders say, everything is detailed in scrupulous reports to New Delhi. After all, there’s no point in loyalty if the High Command doesn’t know about it.

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Haima Deshpande