At last week’s Cabinet meeting, ministers left no one in doubt about what they felt about the new austerity drive they find themselves in. If flying economy class was a particular grudge with many, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma had a more monetary concern: he reminded the Cabinet that during the Kargil operations, the per diem allowance for ministers going abroad had been reduced from $100 to $75 and — he lamented — was never raised back. Sharma, though, may have a hard time selling that one. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, say his aides, refuses to accept any allowance despite being constantly reminded of it on every foreign trip. His reasoning is simple: he hardly spends money on anything.

An address for Tharoor, Krishna

SHASHI Tharoor may have had to move out of a hotel after the Congress high command wielded the austerity stick, but the party wasn’t really in the dark about the Minister of State for External Affairs's five-star dwellings. On the party’s website, Tharoor’s address is listed as Room No. 112, Hotel Taj Mahal, Mansingh Road. His boss S M Krishna, who too has had to give up staying in a five-star hotel, has his address on the Rajya Sabha website as “Karnataka Bhavan” and “19, Teen Murti Lane”. In fact, he was staying in neither and had, in fact, rejected the 19, Teen Murti Lane house.

Adding insult to injury

CONGRESS MP from Domariyaganj Jagdambika Pal ran into Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav on a Kingfisher flight from Lucknow to Delhi on Saturday. As Yadav enquired about Pal’s seat, the Congress MP told him he was flying economy class, citing Sonia Gandhi's diktat on austerity. An amused Yadav sauntered off to his seat in business class, but not before telling Pal gently that he was reading a book written by Ram Manohar Lohia. Yadav was actually on his way to Singapore to see ailing party general secretary Amar Singh.

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