Coimbatore: First, they tattooed their party leader’s image. Then, they smartly dressed up in T-shirts and sarees featuring party symbols. Now, the latest political fad is wearing their party’s loyalty on their fingers with panchaloha metal.
This polls, panchaloha rings with party leader’s image are a big hit among party cadres. Orders are pouring in from Kerala and Puducherry too which are going to polls along with Tamil Nadu.
Rings with gold castings of “Amma” too are up for sale. . Coimbatore has around 300 jewellery shops with an estimated 50,000 craftsmen in Coimbatore, making these “political” rings.
“There is a growing fascination among partymen to wear panchaloha rings with pictures of popular leaders. We do a brisk sale of more than 50 such rings per day in various sizes and designs. Orders are pouring in steadily from across Tamil Nadu and also from Puducherry, Kerala and Delhi as the fascination to wear jewels with image of leaders has gone up over the last two months, “said K Badhrinarayanan, who runs a string of shops in RS Puram, Eachanari and Karuppa Gounder Street.
While north Indians prefer rings of Modi, people in Tamil Nadu have a liking for jewels with pictures of evergreen star MGR and Chief Minister J, Jayalalithaa, who are followed by other party leaders. Unlike gold, the cost of rings made of panchaloha is low ranging from Rs 250 to Rs 2,000.
Before the announcement of polls, people bought only rings with ‘lucky stones’ and those embedded with pictures of Gods. “Our customers were then mostly elderly people. But now even middle aged men and youngsters turn up to buy jewels with pictures of political leaders,” he said. While rings and lockets with image of political leaders sell like hot cakes, those made of gold jewels are yet to pick up in Coimbatore ostensibly due to the Election Commissions round the clock vigil to prevent money flow by political parties.
“We have made the gold casting of only ‘Amma’ to make rings as we are hopeful that there may be a demand for it. Usually there is a demand for whoever is in power. Orders will be taken once we release the new model shortly,” said B. Muthu Venkatraman, president of Coimbatore Jewellery Manufacturers Association (CJMA), who runs Mahalakshmi Jewellery shop at Raja Street. The jewel shops are hopeful of a spike in demand for jewels embedded with pictures and inscriptions of politicos, but feel apprehensive over the strict norms by the election department over carrying cash.
