As Shivkumari herself later told The Indian Express, “She had nothing to share with her VIP visitors except poverty. She also said she had got an NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) job card a year ago, but no work.” The cowshed in Karma Devi’s house, as the widely published photograph of Miliband entering it shows, had no electricity. The mattresses, quilts and linen on the charpoy he slept on were arranged by the local Congress party office. Lampooning this ersatz experience of a slice of the “Other India”, a blogger in London’s Telegraph newspaper wrote: “As political stunt-making goes, this must really take the gold chapati award for international humbug.”

If Rahul wants to experience rural India, let him do so by all means. After all, he was born with the proverbial silver spoon. In any case, it is now his democratic duty as a people’s representative. Any honest and earnest effort by any politician to connect to the people must be applauded. But what can one say about his political maturity, as displayed by his decision to invite a foreign dignitary to undertake poverty tourism in his constituency? Would a British MP take Pranab Mukherjee on a tour of the poorer quarters of London and show what developmental works he has initiated? Would an Italian MP invite Rahul to take a look at poverty in his country and make it an international media event? Have we ever seen Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao (or Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, who are tipped to become China’s next President and Prime Minister) escorting a foreign visitor on a tour of the backward areas of their country? Let’s not forget that there is a lot of hidden poverty in Europe. There is stark poverty in China too, in spite of the fact that China was last week adjudged the third largest economy in the world.

... contd.