The Hindu : Khadi sales go up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 09, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Khadi sales go up

By Vikram Sharma

HYDERABAD, MARCH 8. The electoral war is on. With it, the rush for electoral fatigues is on too. Made of crisp khadi, of course. Nothing else would do for the seasoned campaigners.

With the election fever catching up, the sale of khadi products, specially those of white and yellow shirts, has gone up what with netas belonging to various political parties descending on the khadi shops in hordes. Besides, with the summer already in, shop-owners are looking forward to making good money.

Apart from the existing stocks, local khadi shop-owners have already procured excess `thaan' (material) to cope with the demand. They expect the demand to soar once candidates are finalised. Needless to say, they expect roaring business in the next few days.

"The difference in sales from ordinary summers to special ones like this is certainly there. With elections and the summer falling at the same time, sales are shooting up," says Vinod Kumar, owner of Bharat Khadi Bhavan at Lakdi-Ka-Pul.

Besides those crisp whites used by party activists of various hues, particularly the Congress, bright yellows of the TDP ilk and screaming pinks of the TRS men, shop-owners are also ready with flags of various parties including that of the saffron brigade. However, Gandhi caps, once a must on the electoral scene, are not in vogue, khadi sellers say.

D. Chandrasekhar of Khadi Bhandar says he has already procured 200 "thaans", half of them exclusively for the netalog. "Sales went up right from March 1. Leaders and supporters of various political parties have started giving huge orders." He is looking forward to the time when candidates are listed. "The sales will definitely be good," he smiled.

However, for G. Sudhakar of Bharat Khadi Bhandar, the sales are yet to pick up. But, that hasn't stopped him from stocking up. He has decided to stock one-and-a-half times extra material than what he normally does. "I will be purchasing enough material for the next two months", he said.

Shop-owners get the material from various parts of the State like Pondhuru in Srikakulam district and Chebrolu in Guntur district.

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