Budget 2023: For her fifth budget presentation, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman kept her look simple and elegant, sporting a red silk saree with a black and gold temple border detailing. Keeping it minimalist, she paired it with a gold pendant, bangles, and a bindi. This is also the last full budget before the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Nirmala Sitharaman’s love for handloom sarees is no secret. She has always encouraged local artisans by wearing beautiful, intricate works by them at the parliament.
About the saree and its significance
Temple sarees are usually made of cotton, silk or a mix and worn for special occasions. The Finance Minister’s red temple saree with black border and intricate golden work also featured a star-like design.
The colour red is a symbol of love, commitment, strength and bravery. As per Hindu culture, red is often connected with Goddess Durga, the epitome of female strength and power.
Ranging from donning gorgeous handloom sarees to ones made out of silk, Nirmala Sitharaman’s outfit choices have made headlines on numerous occasions. For the Budget presentation in 2022, she wore a rusty red-brown handloom silk saree.
In 2021, Nirmala Sitharaman was seen in a red and off-white Pochampalli handloom saree with ikkat patterns around the pallu. The year before that, she wore a yellow silk saree.
For her first Budget presentation in 2019, Sitharaman wore a bright pink, gold-bordered Mangalgiri saree. In the same year, she had ditched the colonial tradition of bringing the ledger papers in a briefcase replacing it with a traditional ‘bahi khata’. The Budget papers were wrapped in a silk red cloth with the national emblem embossed on top.
Undoubtedly, Nirmala Sitharaman’s sartorial choices have always displayed an array of handloom pieces from across the country.
When and where to watch FM’s speech?
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget around 11 am. The viewers can watch the live streaming of the Budget on Lok Sabha TV, Rajya Sabha TV, DD News and other news channels.
One can also see the official YouTube and Twitter channels of Lok Sabha and Sansad TV (the official parliament channel) to stream the live presentation of the Union Budget. National broadcaster Doordarshan will also telecast the Budget speech.