Till a few years ago, the question of fashion was not fashionable among politicians clad in bland khadi kurtas and pajamas. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who belongs to a state where people in the arid zones wear prodigious cotton turbans, has redefined the semiotics of the cultural realm of ephemera.
This is reflected in his sartorial sense of dressing in which donning colourful headgear when visiting ethnically diverse states is an essential element.
Part of Modi’s reason to adopt ethnically symbolic behavioural codes is to retain social acceptance and partly to drive a self-reinforcing process by which he has motivated to protect and enhance his reputation not just as a Gujarati, but a national leader sensitive toward establishing good credentials among India’s many and culturally rich peoples.
Very few national leaders – Indira Gandhi and A B Vajpyee being the exceptions – have marketed appearances and the charm of images as well as Narendra Modi.
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