Elegant MPs drip style as parliament reopens

New Delhi, Nov 19 : They weren't fashion models, but when MPs young and old walked in on the first day of the winter session of parliament Thursday, they sure made heads turn with their fine silks, starched cottons and bright woollens.

Seasoned or young, the style statements of many MPs in the packed Lok Sabha caught the eye of those in the press as well as the visitors' gallery. The members were after all gathering together in parliament after a gap of over three months.

Sonia Gandhi, 63, was a picture of elegance. The chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came with hair brushed neatly, and a coat over her purple sari.

As she looked around and joined her hands to say namaste to members on the treasury benches, an excited woman in the visitors' gallery remarked: "She has a royal gait!"

Sonia Gandhi's son Rahul, 39, perhaps the most eligible bachelor in Indian political circles right now, was clad in a spotless but crumpled kurta pyjama.

The Congress general secretary sported a stubble unlike his cousin in the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Varun Gandhi, 29, who was clean shaven.

Varun's 53-year-old mother Maneka, a model-turned-politician and animal rights activist, was seated in the second row of the opposition benches, wearing an olive green salwar kameez.

If the Gandhi members attracted glances, their other colleagues in the house were not far behind. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee wore a camel coloured bandgala and so did Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani looked younger than his 82 years in a sea green bandgala as he walked in with his deputy, Sushma Swaraj, who wore a bright green sari and a maroon waistcoat.

The petite Agatha Sangma, who is the youngest minister in the UPA at 29, was literally overshadowed by the taller MPs around her as she sat in a simple kameez salwar and woollen sweater.

Last but not the least came in the stylish Farooq Abdullah, 73, the renewable energy minister. He wore black trousers, a royal blue shirt and a black jacket.

In a corner, cricketer-turned-politician Mohammed Azharuddin sat quietly - his shirt collar turned up. This is Azhar's trademark style - a hangover of his cricketing days when he would turn up the collar in the hot Indian summers to prevent a sunburn.

The winter session of the 15th parliament will be on till Dec 22.