Budget bonanza for Bihar ahead of polls? FM Nirmala Sitharaman's saree offers a clue

Dressed in a Madhubani art saree made by Padma awardee Dulari Devi, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday posed with her team holding the traditional “bahi khata” ahead of presenting the Union Budget 2025 in Parliament.

The finance minister's white saree with a colourful Madhubani motif and intricate golden border was paired with a red blouse and a shawl. Her accessories included gold bangles, a chain, and earrings.

During a visit to Madhubani, FM Nirmala Sitharaman met artist Dulari Devi at the Mithila Art Institute during a credit outreach event. They discussed Madhubani art in Bihar. Dulari Devi gifted her a saree and requested her to wear it on Budget Day.

Who is Dulari Devi?

Dulari Devi, a Mithila painter from Bihar, was honoured with the Padma Shri at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavanin 2021. Living in Bihar's Madhubani district, she first picked up the paintbrush when working as a domestic help at the house of a Mithila painter. In the almost three decades since, she has used it to bring new colours to her and her family’s life and also make more prominent the ‘Dalit school’ in an art still associated strongly with Maithil Brahmins.