Not exchanging 'cattle class'

Rahul Gandhi flies economy, and refuses offer to exchange seats with filmmaker seated in business class

Rahul Gandhi flies economy, and refuses offer to exchange seats with filmmaker seated in business class

Producer Madhu Mantena recently discovered that the central government's austerity drive is not a sham. On Monday, he travelled on the same Mumbai-Delhi flight as Rahul Gandhi.

"And Rahul Gandhi was in the economy class! I couldn't believe my eyes. I had read about the austerity drive, but not even in my wildest dreams did I expect to see Rahul travelling in what one his party colleagues called the cattle class."

Not any more: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has given up on flying Business class. file pic

Quiet entry

An embarrassed Mathena, who sat in the business class, was so guilt-stricken that he even sent a message to Rahul through one of the stewardesses to exchange seats.

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Sonia Gandhi's son declined the offer. Rahul's gesture has now prompted Mathena tou00a0 follow suit and travel economy class.

"Why not? It was a revealing experience to see Rahul seated in the flight without making a fuss through the journey. I think our film industry needs to understand the gravity of the recession.

"Why do we all insist on travelling business class, staying in ostentatious hotels across the world and splurging money when the industry is going through its worst economic crisis?" asked Mathena.

He added, "Let's all take a voluntary cut. Maybe, the stars will follow."

Cattle class
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor attracted controversy with his comment on Twitter. Last month, he wrote in reply to a query that he would travel, "cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!" He apologised for the tweet after the Congress criticised his views.

125u00a0
The number of rallies addressed by Rahul Gandhi in six weeks during the Lok Sabha election