Opinion | Tote Bags To Caps, Politics For The 'Gram

In an era when optics reign supreme, clothes are not mere fabric, but vehicles of political identity. Recently, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has self-styled himself in a white T-shirt, wore a blue one to express support for BR Ambedkar. Subtle symbolism, such as carrying bags with messages like the one by Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, with ‘Palestine' written on it, and BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi giving a bag to Priyanka with ‘1984' written on it, are emerging trends in political communication. Of course, Priyanka wasn't amused by Sarangi's gift. But that's another story.

Fashion as a political tool has always been about optics, concealed signals, tenor, and tones. More so now, with 24/7 social media and TV channels, more political histrionics are being enacted, all for a trending hashtag or a few million views.

All For Cameras

The just-concluded winter session of Parliament saw Priyanka take her oath as a member of the Lok Sabha from Wayanad on November 28.

Priyanka, draped in a Kerala Kasavu saree, and like her brother Rahul, also held a copy of the Constitution in her hand. The media hailed her as the third-generation Gandhi for preserving her relationship with the ethnic weaves.

Not just the sarees, but her accessories too caught everyone's attention, as they were meant to.

On her first day in Lok Sabha after the oath-taking, Priyanka carried a customised bag with the word 'Palestine' on it, which garnered a lot of interest. It was posted on X by one of her supporters on December 16.

For the shutterbugs, Priyanka raised her fashion statement with a "Bangladesh bag in solidarity with Hindus and Christians of Bangladesh". During the last week of the winter session, when there was an ongoing uproar over Home Minister Amit Shah's so-called 'anti-Ambedkar' remarks in Rajya Sabha, Rahul took it as an opportunity to swap his trademark white polo T-shirt for a blue one. Priyanka also wore a blue saree in a symbolic gesture of the colour blue—associated with Ambedkar, Dalit identity, and activism.

Dilip Cherian, image guru, says, “There has been a return of symbolism or rather a generational upgrade among politicians. Earlier, it was the ‘topi', now it's T-shirts, sarees, and handbags. They are innovating for the new age. It's more for optics in the beginning. As of now, there is no content or meaning to this symbolism. It may come later, when people start taking it seriously.”

Political parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Azad Samaj Party-Kanshi Ram (ASP), which are defenders of Dalit interests, have incorporated blue in their branding, further consolidating their position in Dalit politics.

“Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav wearing a red topi; Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal wearing a half-sweater to represent the common man. The symbolic wear by politicians isn't for the masses. They are playing to the media gallery—the visual, meme, and Insta,” says Cherian.

In the Indian context, we have khadi, which was symbolic resistance against British oppression during the Indian Freedom Movement and later became the unsaid formal wear of politicians.

One often recalls Priyanka's grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who used traditional clothes/costumes to create a relatable image. Sonia Gandhi also adopted a similar style to her mother-in-law, wearing handloom sarees and weaves—identity-appropriate for the region and event. The images of traditional Mekhela sarees in Assam, Kanjeevaram in Tamil Nadu, etc, caught on camera were splashed on Doordarshan news and in newspapers.

Switching to the present, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman makes a fashion statement with her beautifully chosen regional sarees every day, and with her iconic ones during the budget sessions. There are many other women politicians who are style icons of ethnic sarees.

Tokenism Won't Last

Public displays of expensive clothes and accessories have also gotten politicians into trouble.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monogrammed suit, which was supposed to exude ‘power', ironically landed the Modi government with the moniker ‘suit-boot ki sarkar' from none other than Rahul Gandhi.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra was in the news in the last Lok Sabha for ‘hiding' her Louis Vuitton bag in Parliament just as a debate on price rise began. The video clip created an uproar on social media as netizens attacked and trolled her over the ‘irony' of the situation and ‘hypocrisy'.

“There are statements being made by the type of clothes worn, bags being carried, even the expensive ones. The idea is to showcase, at centre-stage, causes and issues,” says Harish Bijoor, business and brand strategy expert. He also reiterates, “The idea is to get pictures and video clips taken and get them viral through social media. In addition to this, traditional media also seems to love all of this because it is exciting content.”

However, if there is no true intention of bringing about change and it's only for the social media buzz, then it does ruin the sincerity of fashion taking a stand, as is often the case with our present ‘netas'. Priyanka's image in a traditional saree was helpful in conveying her solidarity with her constituency, Wayanad. However, she chose to take her oath in Hindi, not Malayalam, the local language of Kerala. This was bad optics. It doesn't require much to drape a beautiful saree, but true solidarity and respect would come when one takes the pains to learn the language, which is spoken by the common folk of Priyanka's constituency. Only then will she be seen as a serious representative, who can directly communicate with her constituents and not through a translator. Earlier, Rahul, too, made no efforts to learn Malayalam despite being elected MP from there.

For the fragmented Opposition, deprived of any common ground, Shah's remarks in Parliament worked as a binding factor instantly. Their newfound affinity for social justice planks has brought all of them together at least for the moment.

Today, political parties of all hues and principles, irrespective of their treatment of Ambedkar in the past, swear by his ideology to woo the vote bank—the poor, marginalised, and oppressed. Sadly, other than tokenism, which also includes wearing and adopting the colour ‘blue' associated with Ambedkar and Dalit activism, not much has been done by them on the ground.

For Rahul and now Priyanka, carrying and displaying Ambedkar's ‘Constitution' has become a sort of accessory – for soundbites and social media tokenism.

(The author is Contributing Editor, NDTV)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author