For a politician, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has become an unlikely fashion icon.

Raje, the first woman to head the desert state, has broadened the range of a politician's wardrobe to include sarees in vibrant colours in place of handspun cotton clothes in dull colours.

She also sports make-up and heavy jewellery -- from huge 'matha tikas' (a dangling piece of jewellery on the forehead) to fancy, flowery nose rings to half a dozen matching bangles complete with a pair of heavy kangans (bangles).

"I like the way she puts on her 'bindi'," said Anusha Tiwari, a college student.

"She is not old and boring like the previous chief ministers. She dresses up beautifully, talks fluently in English and is a very good orator," said Surbhi Singh, a housewife and an unabashed Raje admirer.

"She also has very expressive eyes. And they are attractive too, specially with the thick kajal she wears," added Surbhi's sister Dimple.

"This is how she gains people's confidence. During election campaign, she would dress up like the people of the locality she is visiting.

"She'd go to a village and she'd be all decked up in a ghaghra choli, leaving people impressed," said Shweeta Shriwastav, a sociology student.

An economics and political science graduate from Mumbai's Sophia College, Raje, 52, was the fourth child of the ruler of Gwalior who married into a royal family in Rajasthan.

A five-time MP, her hobbies include music, horse riding and gardening.

There are, however, some who are not impressed by Raje's sartorial statements.

"The problem with her is that she wants to be the star without doing anything," said Rakesh Kumar, an executive in a publishing company.

"There might be 10 posters of hers in Jaipur but I don't see any actual development work going on since she assumed power," he added.

"To do some work she will have to stay in Rajasthan for some time at least. But most of the time she is busy with her religious tours around the nation," complained a resident, Kailash Sharma.