Austere Ministers: Krishna at Maurya, Tharoor at Taj

Shubhajit Roy Tags : drought, SM Krishna, Maurya, Shashi Tharoor, Hotel Taj Mahal Posted: Tuesday , Sep 08, 2009 at 1043 hrs New Delhi:

The ostensible reason for S M Krishna and Shashi Tharoor's stay in five-star hotels is that their 'official accommodation' is not ready.

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For all the Congress talk of austerity and sacrifice in the time of drought — its MPs have been asked to pay 20% of their salary for drought relief — two of its high-profile Ministers are comfortably settled in two five-star hotels in the capital.

For over three months now, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is at ITC’s Maurya on Sardar Patel Marg and his junior Shashi Tharoor at Hotel Taj Mahal on Man Singh Road. Both pay their own bills but neither of them — nor the hotels — say how much they have paid so far.

According to their poll affidavits, Krishna has assets worth Rs 18 crore and Tharoor Rs 15 crore. The ostensible reason for their five-star stay is that their “official accommodation” is not ready.

When Krishna entered Rajya Sabha in the UPA’s last term, he was allotted the residence of former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh at 19, Teen Murti Lane. However, he found the house in a “poor state” and so renovation was ordered. On becoming External Affairs Minister, Krishna got himself a bungalow allotted on Thyagaraja Marg which again is under renovation.

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In the case of Tharoor, he was offered accommodation in Kerala House after the polls but is said to have turned it down. He’s been allotted a house in Lodhi Estate which is getting “done up”. His office says the Minister plans to move next week — a good 100 days after the new government took charge.

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Accusers of Tharoor need to see the light. By: Tejas14 | 01-Dec-2009 Reply | Forward I am not sure about Krishna, but Tharoor's slate is squeaky clean. He is spending his OWN hard earned money at his own sweet will, what wrong as he done? In contrast, his detractors are corrupt individuals who eat up thousands of crores of the government's money and we don't seem to mind that. When Mayawati spent over 2000 crore rupees to erect her statues in a drought hit state we all could well sit quiet, eh? Stop criticizing Tharoor. If at all India has a future in the new world, it will be so only because of the honest efforts of pioneers and academicians like Tharoor. Do you really see a future with Mayawati, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Karunanidhi? If you do, you need to question your conscience and beliefs.

Exam for politiciansBy: atriedus | 05-Oct-2009 Reply | Forward I think it is high time that for an MP and MLA post, candidates should write an exam to exhibit their skills in governance. The exams should be governed by a independent body of elite academicians.

Shashi Tharoor and SM Krishna are stimulating the Indian economy.By: Ravi Mantha | 15-Sep-2009 Reply | Forward In a time of drought, we should commend two well-off Indians for spending their own money and staying at hotels in Delhi. The ITC group (which owns the Maurya) and its thousands of Indian employees are grateful. The Indian government, which collects huge amounts taxes on 5-star hotel stays, should also be grateful. So why are the newspapers complaining? Do they not want hotels, employees, and government to benefit? Who benefits if the two ministers stay in government accommodation instead? We need to understand that spending money creates employment,and excess austerity leads to poverty. Maybe we should send some of these journalists on Economics courses. Or we can follow their twisted logic to its conclusion; given the drought, we should be austere and stop buying newspapers!

They should be ashamed of themselvesBy: Rohit | 15-Sep-2009 Reply | Forward Such a simple story -- yet no other newspaper or channel bothered to report it. Thank you IE. The two ministers should be ashamed of themselves. OK you may have earned crores in the UN, but how will you ever work for the common public if you continue to live in an ivory tower? 100 days and yet accommodation is not ready? How many crores are you wasting in the renovation work and is that from your own money?

somethng more concrete needs to be reportedBy: Nabs | 14-Sep-2009 Reply | Forward Yeah, I guess, this is an insane reporting... if it is mentioned that they are paying for their own hotel bills,then what is somebody else's problem and where does this question of tax come into picture? I am unable to comprehend the point of reporting this article. Is it just that, two statesmen staying in 5 star hotels with their own money???... there must be some sense in media people while they are reporting...

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