The Congress party took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attire during the 80th Independence Day celebrations on Saturday, August 15, targeting the arrangement of his tricolour pocket squares.
Delivering his 13th consecutive address from the Red Fort, PM Modi paired a white kurta-pyjama and a chocolate brown vest with a red tie-and-dye turban—a traditional style representing Rajasthan and Gujarat. However, attention centered on his three pocket squares, which were arranged in saffron, green, and white.
Social media users and political opponents quickly noted that the sequence differed from the Indian National Flag’s standard top-to-bottom order of saffron, white, and green, mirroring instead the green, white, and orange arrangement of Ireland's national flag.
Capitalizing on the discrepancy, Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera posted a photo from the event on X, commenting: "Lagta hai sahib ne Urdu mein Tiranga pehna hai. Ya phir Bharat ki jagah Ireland ka Independence Day mana rahay hain" ("Looks like sir has donned the tricolour in Urdu script format or is celebrating Ireland’s Independence Day"). The remark referenced the right-to-left reading direction of the Urdu language to highlight the inverted color order.
PM Modi’s choice of headwear and attire during national days has consistently drawn public interest since 2014, with his turbans often carrying cultural symbolism. While his 2022 Independence Day turban directly showcased the traditional saffron-white-green sequence to mark 75 years of independence, Saturday's pocket square arrangement triggered immediate political banter.