Lovlina’s gloves pack a punch in e-auction of PM’s gifts

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 17

Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain’s blue boxing gloves today turned out to be the most sought-after item on the first day of the e-auction of various items received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as gifts and mementos.

There are 1,330 items under the hammer in this edition of the e-auction, the proceeds from which will be spent for the “Namami Gange Mission”. Besides items associated with Olympics and Paralympics participants, there are a number of other things, including a replica of the Ram Temple and a number of portraits of PM Modi, which are up for sale.

The javelin used by Neeraj Chopra to win gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics has a base price of Rs 1 crore. Till now, the javelin with Chopra’s signature has attracted a maximum price of Rs 1.5 crore. On the other hand, a buyer has offered Rs 1.92 crore for Lovlina’s gloves. The base price of the item, which has been signed by the athlete, was Rs 80 lakh. Eleven persons have put in a bid for the gloves till now.

Next in line is a javelin belonging to paralympian Sumit Antil. Antil’s javelin, which too has a base price of Rs 1 crore like that of Chopra, has attracted a bid of Rs 1.09 crore, with seven persons interested in the item.

A hockey stick belonging to Indian women’s hockey captain Rani Rampal and signed by the members of the Tokyo Olympics team has attracted a bid of Rs 1 crore. Its base price was Rs 80 lakh.

A hockey stick signed by Indian men’s hockey team members were put up for sale in the auction with a base price of Rs 80 lakh. This has attracted only one bid and the buyer has offered only Rs 100 over the base price. In contrast, the stick signed by women hockey players attracted 12 bids today, the inaugural day of the auction.

The auction will go on till October 7.

1,330 items under the hammer

• The javelin used by Neeraj Chopra in the Tokyo Olympics has a base price of Rs1 crore
• Till now, the javelin has attracted a maximum price of Rs1.5 crore
• A buyer has offered Rs1.92 cr for Lovlina’s gloves