Manohar Parikar is a very simple person who has no airs and can be seen going in taxis when he visits other states and also eating in normal restaurants sitting with other people. I guess the Andhra CM needs to take some lessons from such politicians rather than think about his security and self as the first priority.  This is the kind of narcissistic behavior most of our politicians suffer from and they should be put firmly in their place for which there needs to be a change in the policy by cutting down their rights on the states wealth and free handling of finances. Unless checks and balances are put on expenditure this sort of thing will go on ..

Yes. Checking the politicians is the need of the hour. In this regard sweeping changes should take place . Politicians' immorality is the bane of the democratic set up.

usha manohar wrote:

Manohar Parikar is a very simple person who has no airs and can be seen going in taxis when he visits other states and also eating in normal restaurants sitting with other people. I guess the Andhra CM needs to take some lessons from such politicians rather than think about his security and self as the first priority.  This is the kind of narcissistic behavior most of our politicians suffer from and they should be put firmly in their place for which there needs to be a change in the policy by cutting down their rights on the states wealth and free handling of finances. Unless checks and balances are put on expenditure this sort of thing will go on ..

True, Manohar Parrikar's example of simplicity needs to be emulated by almost all the politicians. Powerful leaders of many European nations are actually very humble and simple people and live and travel the public transports to work like common people. It is in our country that too much money is spent on unnecessary vehicles, security staff etc. Even Pratibha Patil, after retirement demanded such amenities when she is just not doing any work for the people now, of course it is another matter that she did not work even when she was a president. But the point is the people should demand that such costs of maintaining these people in power be brought down., That way we could save so much money we could use for other necessary purposes.

This reminds of that incident, which speaks the honesty and integrity of Late Lal Bahadur Shastri. When he was the Railway minister, a big train accident took place claiming hundreds of lives. Shastri felt the responsibility for the Rail mishap and resigned. After resigning, he refused to use his official car and gone back by a taxi.

On the other hand, ChandraBabu and the likes of him use state's Helicopters even for their personal use.

Amassing wealth and ensuring their progeny's future in politics and enjoying at government expense is the mission that motivates most of the persons to join politics. The voters support them in this and then they do what they desired to do. We keep cribbing !!!

@Vijay, summed it up rather well, I must say. I think it should be declared the national pastime of our country, cribbing about politician's flashy lifestyle and habit of amassing fortune for their minimum 50 generations!

One such example is Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy son of late Y. Rajasekhara Reddy erstwhile CM of AP. He has plundered the state and gave it to son  Jagan Mohan Reddy. But he was caught by the CBI. He is the NO1 accused in 14 cases of the biggest Financial scams in AP. Now he is on bail. It's not all, Jagan is the opposition leader in the AP assembly. And he has a great fan following.. These are our political leaders and these are our People.

@Kalyani

A petty politician once became the Chairman of my PSU company. The first thing he did was to renovate his office in his city at my company's cost running into a few lakhs. His company provided car had its radial tires changed every three or four months, when such tires are rated to run for nearly fifty thousand plus kms.(Where did the tires go?)  His children used to go in the car on two hour drives one way to eat ice cream in a big city. He forced the company to depute him and his wife on a foreign tour naturally at company expense for a fortnight or more. WE all saw this happening but could not or would not do anything. All we did and am still doing is keep cribbing. He enjoyed his posting. I liked your suggestion of declaring cribbing as a national pastime.

vijay wrote:

@Kalyani

A petty politician once became the Chairman of my PSU company. The first thing he did was to renovate his office in his city at my company's cost running into a few lakhs. His company provided car had its radial tires changed every three or four months, when such tires are rated to run for nearly fifty thousand plus kms.(Where did the tires go?)  His children used to go in the car on two hour drives one way to eat ice cream in a big city. He forced the company to depute him and his wife on a foreign tour naturally at company expense for a fortnight or more. WE all saw this happening but could not or would not do anything. All we did and am still doing is keep cribbing. He enjoyed his posting. I liked your suggestion of declaring cribbing as a national pastime.

We see the same types everywhere in government and bureaucratic positions, of course there are few exceptions but most of them join the game quickly once they start getting these extra perks. A family friend was working in the Indian embassy of Japan and was in charge of cultural portfolio. Without exception, ALL the visiting Indian dignitaries and their entourage used to behave in such a weird manner, such as  demanding extra attention, shopping expensive items and gifts at the cost of the embassy, making the staff of the embassy run to and fro for petty things etc. without thinking of the image they created of themselves and their country on foreign soil. So I think this particular habit has infiltrated Indian genes so instead of making them change, we should declare cribbing as national sport and make the best of the situation.

What else a commoner can or will do but cribbing ? Such cases of using the public money has become a daily affair. They no more attract a common man's attention.