Of bags and political statements: BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj's 'Priyanka Vadra moment' in Parliament

Textile art as a symbol of political statements is not new. Stories of Chilean Arpilleras using patchwork scenes to mirror repression under dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1970s and 80s, US artist Faith Ringgold's quilt art against gender injustice and Rajasthan's Dabu printing, a hand blocking technique, have all typified resistance.

Of late though, a section of MPs at home have made clothes, accessories and broad fashion a preferred means to articulate political opposition to their rivals.

So it was for BJP New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj who turned up for the joint parliamentary committee meeting on ‘One Nation One Election’ carrying a bag that had "National Herald ki Loot" printed on it. The message was not lost on anyone and was instantly seen as a counter to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi's Vadra December 2024 act of walking into the Parliament of India with a bag that had "Palestine" written on it.

Bansuri's accessory art retort was clearly aimed at Priyanka whose mother and brother Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are facing an Enforcement Directorate chargesheet in the National Herald case where the powerful first family of the Congress is accused of usurping assets worth crores belonging to Herald publisher Associated Journals in the garb of a bailout for a failing company.

The ruling BJP and opposition Congress are currently engaged in a war of narratives over the ED chargesheet — with Congress leaders holding press conferences across India to allege political witch hunt at the hands of central probe agencies and the BJP asking the grand old party whether the Gandhis are above the law.

Interestingly, after Priyanka's Palestine solidarity move, MPs of Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK party attracted the ire of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla when during the budget session of Parliament, they entered the House wearing T-shirts bearing anti-delimitation messages.