By P.T. Bopanna
Kodagu MLA A.S. Ponnanna (in picture wearing suit) works hard for his Virajpet constituency, and also dresses up nattily when the occasion demands.
Ponnanna is not a traditional politician. He was a top lawyer and former additional advocate general of Karnataka, before he was handpicked by the Karnataka Congress leadership to break the saffron fortress of Kodagu. It was a “mission impossible”, but Ponnanna along with Dr Mantar Gowda succeeded in ousting the unpopular BJP MLAs.
Ponnanna, who is also a legal advisor to the chief minister with Cabinet rank, wears his trademark white shirt when he interacts with people in his constituency.
If the occasion is a little formal, he wears a waistcoat, mostly in blue colour. When Ponnanna accompanied deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar, to meet Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin, Ponnanna was in a suit.
Ponnanna wore the traditional Kodava dress of kupya-chele when he went on a pilgrimage to Talcauvery during the theerthodbhava. He was seen walking alongside with Kodagu MP Yaduveer, who also dresses well as the occasion demands.
Another well-dressed politician in Karnataka is Bangalore south Lok Sabha member Tejasvi Surya.
Good grooming demands that a person is dressed well for the occasion. Gone are the socialist days when crumpled kurta was a fashion for politicians.
Though personally I feel prime minister Narendra Modi has a good fashion sense and wears elegant clothes, his flamboyance does not send out right political message.
The monogrammed suit he wore a few years ago during his meeting with American president Barack Obama in Delhi, was not a good idea. The suit which cost around Rs 10 lakh was later sold in an auction and made it to the Guinness World Records as “the most expensive suit sold at auction”.
Modi also sports expensive imported sun glasses and watches, while he talks of “vocal for local”. This goes against Hindutva’s brigade’s swadeshi tagline.