Rahul Gandhi's jacket at rock concert attracts BJP's 'Soot-Boot' retort

In an apparent retort to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's often "suit-boot ki sarkar" jibe, the BJP claimed that he wore a Burberry jacket worth $995 (roughly  Rs 63,000) at a rock concert organised by his party in poll-bound Meghalaya.

Gandhi, who is on a campaign tour of Meghalaya that goes to polls on February 27, was seen wearing the jacket on Tuesday at a musical evening - "Celebration of Peace."

As the tweet by BJP's Meghalaya unit went viral, Gandhi responded saying that it was a gift.

The Congress, however, laughed off the BJP's jibe. "I don't know whether to laugh or to cry at the desperation of the BJP. Are you saying they have no other work than to sit and assess rates? I can show you the same jacket for Rs 700. If the Prime Minister wants it, I can get one and send it to him..." said Congress' Renuka Chowdhury.

"Those who had own name on suit, do they have any moral authority to question Rahul Gandhi's jacket? How do they know the price of the jacket?" she asked.

Chowdhury also took objection to the BJP tweet suggesting that the jacket worn by Gandhi was bought with black money.

"Did they go check the bill when Rahul Gandhi was buying the jacket? How do they know? I have never seen a man like Rahul Bhai, who lives such a simple life while holding such an important post," said Punjab minister Navjot Singh Siddhu.

The BJP's potshot was seen as a retaliation to Gandhi's "suit-boot" jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a poll campaign in Bihar in 2015.

"So @OfficeOfRG, soot(pun intended!)-boot ki sarkar with 'black' money fleeced from Meghalayan State exchequer by rampant corruption? Instead of singing away our woes, you could have given a report card of your inefficient govt in Meghalaya! Your indifference mocks us! (sic)," wrote the Meghalaya BJP Twitter handle with pictures of the jacket's original price and photo.

Unruffled

Gandhi himself was unruffled after the attack. He said in Shillong, "You will not see him (the PM) hug a poor person, talk to a poor person or even engage with a poor person. You will see him with others...There is a particular distance he maintains from the poor people, which he does not with Mr Obama or others."

The suit referred to by Gandhi in his poll speeches was a monogrammed suit worn by the PM during his talks with then US President Barack Obama in India. The suit, which was sold at an auction for Rs 4.31 crore, had stripes with the name Narendra Damodardas Modi woven into it in glittering gold letters.