One man's cattle class is another man's idea of supreme luxury. Which is why the Congress austerity drive has a hollow ring. People can sniff the hypocritical undertone. S M Krishna and Shashi Tharoor were ordered out of their five-star splendour, which they were paying for at their own expense, but the government continues to foot the bill for the stay in the four-star Samrat hotel of many outstation MPs whose government bungalows in Delhi are still being renovated. Rahul Gandhi, as a token gesture, may travel in airconditioned Chair Car on a train, but what about the fact that 12 bulletproof cars had to be airlifted from Delhi to Chennai by an Air Force plane for his three-day trip to Tamil Nadu recently?

In the debate on austerity in public life, one should perhaps make a distinction between extravagance at one's own cost and reckless expenditure at the expense of the public exchequer. A few token gestures cannot wish away the fact that five-star culture is deeply ingrained in a section of our political class and it cannot be removed just by a party diktat.

I, for one, do not subscribe to the old school belief that those in politics should be there for social service alone and should necessarily adhere to simple Gandhian living. If this was the case, it would reduce the pool of talent from which we can draw in politics. A person who has entered political life after a successful stint in his original profession or comes from a wealthy background is usually an asset in government. A code which maintains that the well-heeled must not display their wealth, is unrealistic and insincere.

... contd.