The Congress is in no hurry to stop raking up the “₹10-lakh-suit” issue against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The decision to auction the suit, gifted to Modi by a businessman, is a “damage control exercise” to save his reputation, the party insists.

According to the Congress, the PM has violated all procedures of auctioning a gift to the Prime Minister’s Office. “It (the suit) should have gone to the toshakhana . If it is worth more than ₹5,000, the PM should have paid the money to the exchequer and then proceeded to auction it,” Congress general secretary Ajay Maken told reporters here on Wednesday.

A gift received by a PM ought to be properly evaluated, argued Maken. He urged the Centre to take back the suit from the buyer and auction it in line with the procedure. He further asked Modi to pay the balance amount to the exchequer and express his regret to the poor people of the country.

The PM has mocked the nation’s poor by wearing a costly suit and then selling it for ₹1.21 crore, said Maken.

“Wearing of a suit of ₹10 lakh was criticised not only in India, but globally. People didn’t like the way the Prime Minister wore the suit while meeting the President of US. So, as a damage control exercise, this was done by the Prime Minister to save his reputation,” he said.

Maken said the move showed Modi’s “self-obsessed” style of functioning. “He wears a suit in which his name is printed. Then he allows it to be worn by his statue and then it is sold for a whopping amount. This shows the arrogance of the Prime Minister,” the Congress leader said.

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