NEW DELHI, June 24: Today's shawl auction, with the proceeds meant for cyclone relief work in Gujarat and Rajasthan, at the BJP headquarters netted nearly Rs 5 lakh, with supporters of Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma snapping up BJP President Kushabhau Thakre's collection.With only two of the 10-odd air conditioners working sporadically in the packed hall, it was unbearably hot. Not the best place for an auction of shawls but considering the appalling power situation in the Capital, quite appropriate. Undeterred, party activists eagerly bid for the 40 shawls on auction as Thakre looked on.The highest amount paid was Rs 27,000, for a shawl from Arunachal Pradesh; the buyer - Ram Bhagat Gupta, a trader from the Narela Mandi. In fact, a number of the bidders were from this mandi. The second-highest price was Rs 25,000, paid by Ved Singh ``Lalloo Pradhan'' who comes from the Delhi CM's Shalimar Bagh constituency.Speaking before the auction began, Thakre expressed concern at the loss of lives and property in Gujarat. It was the BJP's tradition to help whenever such calamities struck, he said, pointing out that the party had collected Rs 25 lakh when a cyclone devastated Andhra Pradesh. ``I don't own any thing else so I thought I would auction the shawls presented to me during my tours (after taking over as party president) and send the proceeds to Gujarat,'' he said.Most of the shawls were from the north-eastern states and a few from Gujarat and the south. The programme began with a bang as auctioneer Pawan Sharma (general secretary of the Delhi unit) ceremoniously displayed a shawl from Nagaland and succeeded in taking the bids up from Rs 6,000 to Rs 21,000.The momentum carried many along for a while, till the initial enthusiasm waned and the heat took its toll. Later, the price averaged around Rs 15,000, the lowest successful bid was Rs 5,000. Party general secretary M. Venkaiah Naidu said that it would be decided later whether to donate the proceeds to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund for Gujarat or send them directly to the chief ministers' funds in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
