Painting of PM Modi and Mahatma Gandhi receives highest bid of Rs 25 lakh; Proceeds to be donated for Namami Gange Mission

New Delhi, October 26: A painting of PM Narendra Modi and Mahatma Gandhi fetched the highest bid of Rs 25 lakh in the e-auctioning of mementos that concluded Thursday. The acrylic painting with a tri-colour background of the prime minister and Mahatma Gandhi also had the highest base price of Rs 2.5 lakh. All proceeds from the e-auction will be donated towards funding the Namami Gange Mission, said a government statement.

 

The auction, organised by the Union Culture Ministry, began from September 14 and was to conclude on October 3, but due to an overwhelming response from bidders the last date was pushed to October 24.

A framed photograph of the PM receiving blessings from his mother, with a base price of Rs 1,000 received a bid of Rs 20 lakh. Among other popular auctioned items, an exhibit of Manipuri Folk Arts, which had an original base price of Rs 50,000, was sold for a bid of Rs 10 lakh.

A metallic sculpture of a cow feeding a calf, with a base price of Rs 4,000, sold for a bid of Rs 10 lakh and a metallic 14-cm statue of Swami Vivekanand, with a base price of Rs 4,000, received a final price of Rs 6 lakh.

 

The items were kept on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) here and included memorabilia, paintings, sculptures, shawls, jackets and traditional musical instruments. As many as 2,772 items gifted to PM Modi as mementos were put up for sale. The items were kept in the National Gallery of Modern Art Museum in New Delhi before they were put up for auctioning.