(Ravish Kumar is Senior Executive Editor, NDTV India)I had just come out of the BJP's Delhi state unit office on Pandit Pant Marg in central Delhi when I spotted this
kurta shop. The multi-coloured
kurtas and the bright Nehru jackets caught my eye and I struck up a conversation. Mustafa showed me a jacket and said the sartorial tastes of the BJP
karyakarta had changed since Narendra Modi had become PM. "They want the kind of jacket they see Modiji wearing on TV, " he said.
The Nehru jacket had many names -
sadri, bandi - but they seem to be now influenced by PM Modi's choice of colours and taste. Mustafa told me that earlier only black and grey jackets were in demand which would cost 500-600 rupees. The coloured ones come for around 1200 rupees. The BJP workers come to Mustafa for the measurements and he then tailors the jackets in a few days.
In the BJP office, everyone from the netas to the karyakatas were in bright clothes. It seemed as if BJP Delhi In-Charge Prabhat Jha's bright red
kurta and senior leader Rameshwar Chaurasia's pink
kurta almost suggested that the party had become more colourful than its usual saffron hue.
Mustafa told us that the top leaders don't get their
kurtas and jackets stitched at his place - they have bigger tailors and most of them buy the cloth from the
Khadi Bhandar.Mustafa is from Bihar's Madhubani district and he has been plying his trade outside the BJP office for 15-20 years now. He lives with his wife and five children. He says political workers from every religion come to his shop. "For me this work is my bread-and-butter... it is my means to earn a living," Mustafa said.
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