The dhoti-clad quintessential image of a Tamil Nadu politician is now passé. This campaign season, cadres in jeans and T-shirts wearing coolers to beat the heat are in. With political parties looking to reinvent their images and wanting to present a younger cadre base to the voting public, very few of those on the campaign trail can be seen in dhotis.
“People are tired of seeing people in the traditional kara vesthi (dhoti with party colours). They want a change. It is better to mingle among the voters in casual clothes,” explains a seasoned politician. Parties encourage cadres to dress in jeans and if the women come in modern clothes it is all the more welcome. “In fact, women get more batta during campaigning since it is better to present a younger group of cadres to the voters,” he adds.
N. Vijayaraj of the AIADMK says that many in his age group choose to wear jeans and trousers since it is a matter of comfort. “When you go on campaigns in residential areas, you have to walk a lot and dhotis tend to get crushed and dirty. It takes a lot of effort to maintain it too and nobody has the time for that these days,” he points out.
Even senior leaders are turning to wear casual clothes, says M. Sheik Mujibur Rahman, a DMK cadre from Tirunelveli. “Look at Stalin, he is in colour clothes and that does make a difference when he meets the voters. Most of my friends who are in the party are mostly dressed in casual clothes,” he adds. Among other leaders, Anbumani Ramadoss, the PMK’s CM candidate, has a sartorial elegance that does not involve dhotis.
A quality dhoti costs Rs. 1,300 – Rs. 1,400 and then, dry cleaning and starching costs Rs. 100 at least. “Jeans and trousers are cheaper, last longer and very easy to maintain,” said Anbu Chezhiyan, a professional who is in a party. However, senior leaders including MPs, MLAs and those who hold party positions continue to retain the dhotis.
And what’s more, it looks like business is dull too, as a consequence. For P. Muthukrishnan, the owner of Saraswathi Handloom Textiles in Sellur, elections used to be the season to make up for losses.
However, this year, many textile showrooms in Madurai, renowned for selling party dhotis and mufflers, claim that the election season sale has gone south. “We are thinking twice about sending bulk loads of even normal textile items as we fear of seizure by election officials. Party men are cautious to buy even 10 or 20 dhotis at a time,” said S.S. Hariharan, a manager at Sarathi Textiles in Madurai.Some are also trying out different strategies to increase their sales. For instance, one manufacturer has innovated to include neatly laminated pocket-sized pictures of party leaders, with the dhoti. Politicians of Tamil Nadu prefer to keep these photos in their transparent white shirts.
