Misplaced Austerity drive a complete HOGWASH!

Ha! The austerity drive kick off is completely misplaced. It is not something the ministers need to do only during recession or drought period. They can continue doing it even in good times a la George Fernandes or Mamta Banerjee, who never made headlines for their austere living.

Neta's and their entourage are taking these drives only to the states where elections are due. This indicates a lot of unsaid things about the intent of the drive. I wonder why the change in heart has come at the very end of the recession. Or may be they wield so much power that once they started their drive, the recession has turned around and global stock exchanges have started to boom again!

They drive with their secretaries and black cats and sycophants in their Pajero's and Mercedes, then take a part of their travel in AC first class railway compartments and project as if have made a huge sacrifice. Such tokenism is a bigger insult to the masses who are reeling under drought and starvation. In Mahatma's land, a tokenism of this kind is a big insult to his teachings and his followers.

The arrogance of Sharad, Shashi and Sharma - for following simple ways of living alike their other billion plus cousins in this country - underlines the attitude with which the politicians look at the cattle class that we all form. They forget it is the cattle class that pays for their AC accommodations. Just as the cattle's are reared and used unabashedly, but worshiped intermittently, so is the case with people who are entitled to only vote not get them.

We have a law to restrict the number of cattle that can be put in a railway bogie while being transported. Alas! I hope the austerity drive helps somehow to get a law for the restriction of number of humans packed in a bogie as well. My challenge to Rahul Baba, take a train in Mumbai during peak hours in the direction of the rush in a Second Class compartment. Then your Dalit night-outs will have more legitimacy.

Abhishek Singhvi has sung paeans about Sonia Gandhi and is a perfect example of a sycophant. Sonia Gandhi would do good by cutting her entourage shorter. It will save a lot of money from the exchequer. The difference between business class ticket and economy class ticket is insignificantly miniscule compared to the wealth politicians have amassed from the exchequer.

One question we all seem to miss is, since Independence the Nehru Gandhi family has earned only the salary meant for the MP's or the salary of a Prime Minister. Even if we take into account that amount cumulatively. How on Earth can they spend on education abroad for all and still each claim to have crores and crores of 'White money' declared in their pre-election wealth declaration?

Although the act by Sonia Gandhi is a deviation from the norm, it does not deserve to be sung out in the form paeans and paeans of her 'sacrifice'. Other issues of importance should make headlines rather than this example for the projection of GOP as a peoples party.

Cosmetic tokenism is hogwash, true performance is the acid test. May be Congress knows where it stands in the elections after the consistent farmer suicides. So all these things follow.