Khadi-clad Congressmen have a stiff life

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The khadi-clad Congressmen are finding it difficult to maintain their stiff, starched looks throughout the year.  Appearing clean and neat in public in the white  dress as commanded  by Mahatma Gandhi decades ago  is not as simple as it looks. It is a costly affair robbing the Congressmen of much of their income, especially as the party does not give them any allowance for it.       They incur Rs 4500 - Rs 6,000 per month to stick to khadi  though the young  leaders opt for linen which is easy to maintain.

Gandhiji had envisaged khadi as a swadeshi weapon against the British, but today’s  leaders want to wear it without wrinkles.  The majority depend on  dobhis o wash and iron the dress and the others do it in their homes. “White khadi  can be worn only for a day and  I need at least 90 sets and have to pay  Rs 4500 - Rs 6000 to  dhobis  for washing and pressing,”  a KPCC secretary told DC.

Some local dhobis  charge less, but the Congress leaders do not prefer them.  A  Lok Sabha MP belonging to a northern district in Kerala sends  his driver with scores of khadi shirts and dhotis in his car at Mettukada as he has to keep some 100 pairs in New Delhi, the same numbers in his constituency and  in his home town. “With the party not giving any allowance, it is  difficult to sport khadi and the dhobis take three months to return my dress,” the secretary said.

A. Chidamabaram, 72,  dobhi of Bandbox,  said  it was difficult to maintain his staff. “The majority of the Congress leaders are my customers. I have three staff members and now two of them have gone on leave,” he said. However, the young  MLAs like Shafi Parambil, V. T. Balram, Hibi Eden and  Roji M. John  wear linen dress besides khadi.  “Wearing khadi is more of a habit and I feel that one should wear a dress that gives him or her  comfort,”  said Balram.