TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Goans watching the Republic Day parade at New Delhi blinked in surprise as Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in a formal Indian ‘bandhgala’ welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This was the first time Goans saw the former chief minister in formal attire, which he had not worn for years, and gave him the thumbs up.
“He was given the option of a western suit or Indian formal. He preferred to wear Indian formal,” sources close to Parrikar said. They added, ‘He was not very comfortable in those clothes.” The suit was picked off the shelf from Delhi as Parrikar refused to engage a designer for it.
“Look smart in black suit…a new look,” a facebook comment read. Another facebook post thanked US President Barack Obama for Parrikar’s new look. “Thank you Obama sir… your visit made us see new bhai (Parrikar)”.
Twitterati too commented on Parrikar’s new look. “RD parade in sharp bhandgala”, “Manohar Parrikar is wearing a suit? First time ever in this look”, were some of the twitter posts.
Parrikar was known for always wearing a shirt that was not tucked into his trousers and sandals.
At the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) too, where he rubbed shoulders with film stars and politicians, he wore his trademark half sleeves shirt. He didn’t change that even for meetings with foreign defence ministers.
