Rahul says politicians should be austere

Rahul Gandhi on Thursday joined the debate on austerity saying politicians should be austere all the time, remarks that came as a stark reminder to two Union ministers, who had to check out of star hotels here a couple of days ago following an embarrassing media exposure.

Rahul Gandhi on Thursday joined the debate on austerity saying politicians should be austere all the time, remarks that came as a stark reminder to two Union ministers, who had to check out of star hotels here a couple of days ago following an embarrassing media exposure.

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As a politician you have a duty to be austere anyway," he told a press conference here at the end of his three-day visit to Tamil Nadu.

Asked about the issue in the wake of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his deputy Shashi Tharoor having to move out of their luxury hotel suites following a controversy, Gandhi said has no such problems as he generally kept himself austere.

"I generally tend to keep myself austere", pointing out to his simple white kurta-pyjama attire with a chuckle.

"I don't go through phases. So I don't think that you should have austerity measures in a phase and no measures in another phase... I don't really get interested in these kind of things," he said.