A look at Nirmala Sitharaman's budget day sarees through the years

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the first budget of the third Modi government at 11 am today. It was her seventh consecutive budget presentation. With this, Nirmala Sitharaman has surpassed Morarji Desai's record of six. The special sarees worn by the minister during budget presentation for the for the last six times had grabbed headlines. Her sarees also received various accolades.

This time, Nirmala Sitharaman came wearing a beige silk sari with a purple and gold border. Nirmala wore red, blue, yellow and brown sarees in last year's budgets. They are specially woven sarees from different states. It is also special that all these colors tell the history of Indian culture and heritage. Each sari represents the culture of the places in different states of India.

The sari she wore today is from Andhra Pradesh. She wore a Mangalagiri Sari. A special financial assistance has been promised to Andhra Pradesh while reviewing this year's budget. The budget also earmarked good financial support for agricultural activities in the state. It is indicated that this is also related to the sari worn by Nirmala Sitharaman today.

The blue sari worn by the finance minister in February when she presented the interim budget was also outstanding. She wore a blue tussar silk sari with Kantha handiwork (an embroidery work actively seen in West Bengal). This is an indication of the government's efforts to focus on the schemes aimed at boosting the economy of India's fisheries sector.

What is Kantha embroidery
The traditional Kantha embroidery is a traditional folk art of Bengal and was significantly used in Kantha quilt. Kantha embroidery is a simple stitch called running stitching. Kantha work is the tradition and livelihood of rural women in West Bengal. This handloom, which has a history of centuries, has been lost in the meantime. This work came back again in 1940.

She wore a red and black temple border sari with Kasuti thread work while presenting the budget in 2023. It was a saree with borders with images of temples. It is Ilkal silk sari from the Dharwad region of Karnataka. It is completely hand woven and has images of chariot, peacock and lotus woven into it. It is suggested that this saree was chosen to show that Nirmala Sitharaman is the leader who contested from Karnataka and reached the Lok Sabha.

In 2022, she wore a Bomkai saree in the budget session. The brown sari with maroon and gold borders is a tribute to Odisha’s handloom legacy. The sarees are made at Bomkai village in Ganjam district in Odisha.

In 2021, she wore a Pochampally silk sari from Telangana. The sari features a distinctive ikat design. The choice sent a message of supporting local artisans and Indian weaving communities.