Some things haven’t changed, however. Notwithstanding the SUVs and luxury vehicles parked in the driveways of party leaders in West Bengal, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat makes a statement of austerity as he sits on the front seat of a party-owned Tata Sumo and Omni. His colleague in the Politburo, Sitaram Yechury, continues to drive a Maruti Zen. Jyoti Basu still travels in an Ambassador.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi prefer the Tata Safari on the campaign trail. The young scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family has also used a Pajero to campaign in UP. For Jayalalithaa, it must be a Mercedes Benz or Tata Safari.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda converted a Tata 407 into a comfortable election rath with a toilet and sofa in the last election; his aides are not sure if the CM would require this rath in the next election given the proliferation of luxury vehicles in the market.

At Sonia Gandhi’s recent rally at Jhajjar in Haryana where she delivered the now famous rebuke to the Left, Congress workers and leaders were seen in Scorpios and Innovas. Qualis and Mahindra jeeps — which used to be the main vehicles of preference for political rallies — could be spotted at Jhajjar too but they were few and far between.

In Himachal Pradesh, where Mahindra jeeps, Gypsies and Maruti vans were used in previous elections, the Congress is planning to send a fleet of Boleros this time.

... contd.