The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a party with a penchant for accessories, has added a new one to its collection — a saffron Gandhi topi, which was sported not just by its members at party state headquarters Shree Kamalam in Gandhinagar on Friday, but also Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state chief CR Paatil.
The three wore it even while riding the open jeep during the roadshow from the Ahmedabad airport to the BJP headquarters. Convenor of state BJP’s Prachar-Prasar Cell Atul Bhavsar told The Indian Express that the party got the new caps from Surat Friday morning.
“It is similar to white Gandhi cap but in saffron colour. It also has a white lotus symbol on it and a strap with BJP written on it (in Gujarati),” Bhavsar said.
Paatil told The Indian Express that BJP members always wore caps but this time the thought was, “if it could be made such that people would keep it safely at home… this cap has been designed with a lotus symbol and the party name. It is made of cloth with good quality. I have personally monitored its design”.
Paatil added that Friday they bought 10,000 such caps and more would be added as per demand.
A party leader, who is part of the department responsible for preparing election accessories, said, “Earlier, we had such a saffron Gandhi cap. But this new cap is an improvisation of that design with lotus symbol. This saffron cap has been prepared under the guidance of CR Paatil.”
Another veteran leader of the party said, “Our party has traditionally been having two caps; the regular ones like the baseball hats and Gandhi caps in saffron since Jan Sangh days. Our RSS cap was similar to this one, in black.”
The leader said that one of the reasons for introducing new party accessories at regular intervals was “to sustain workers’ interest”.
“Our party has been regularly bringing in changes in accessories like this. Earlier we had the lapel pin with lotus symbol to wear on pockets,” he added. The BJP has earlier got made brooches with the lotus symbol and sarees printed with the lotus symbol for its women members.
In December, Modi had taken a jibe at Samajwadi Party leader and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav saying, “These laal topiwale are a red alert for UP.”
The caps were first seen in large numbers in Ahmedabad at the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) rally addressed by now Congress working president Hardik Patel on August 25, 2015 that said, “Jay Sardar, Jay Patidar”. The event was held on the same grounds as Friday’s mahapanchayat addressed by Modi.
The white caps with the slogan in black got associated with the Patidar quota agitation. Many with roots in the agitation are now members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and sport the party cap that is also white and says “Mujhe Chahiye Swaraj” apart from the name of the party. Before the launch of AAP, its founder and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was among the founders of the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement whose members also wore similar caps with the slogan, “Main hoon Aam Aadmi, Mujhe Chahiye Jan Lok Pal”.
Rakesh Hirapara, member of AAP’s national council, who is also one of the founding members of AAP in Gujarat, said, “Initially we were part of the Anna Andolan so our cap said ‘I am Anna’. Then with the birth of AAP, we started wearing caps that said , ‘I am a common man’. Starting from our leader Arvind Kejriwal to the ground level workers, all wore the cap symbolising that we are all equal.”
Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Jagdish Thakor is also often seen sporting the traditional Gandhi topi.
(With inputs from Vaibhav Jha)