Netaji Statue Prototype Gifted To PM Modi Among 1,200 Items To Be Auctioned

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will celebrate his 72nd birthday on September 17 by auctioning around 1,200 items that he received as gifts over the years, with the proceeds once again going to the Namami Gange Mission.

This is the fourth edition of e-auction of gifts and mementoes of Modi, the first one having been launched by Prime Minister’s Office in January 2019.

The latest auction, to be conducted through the web portal pmmementos.gov.in, will go on till October 2.

A special prototype statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose – which Modi recently inaugurated at the India Gate – is expected to be in demand in the e-auction. It’s base price will be Rs 5 lakh, reported News18.

Some of the other expensive gifts are from Indian sportspersons who won medals at the Commonwealth Games and Paralympic Games.

An exhibition of mementoes and gifts presented to Modi has begun at the National Gallery of Modern Art.

“It is an honour to showcase this collection of over 1,000 objects received as gifts, which will now be on show for the general public. All these collectors’ items will go under the hammer from 17th September and anyone can bid and acquire these historic gift items,” an official of National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) said.

The gifts on auction include a statue of Rani Kamlapati (received from Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan), a Hanuman idol and a sun painting (from UP CM Yogi Adityanath), a trishul (from Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur), statue of goddess Mahalaxmi (from NCP leader Ajit Pawar), wall hanging of Lord Venkateshwara (from Andhra CM Jagan Mohan Reddy).