The Congress on Friday said that Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan should reconsider travelling in an expensive Jaguar car when the country was reeling under an agrarian crisis.
"The speaker should reconsider at the time when one-third of the country is reeling under acute agrarian distress, will it be prudent for her to make such an extravagant investment?" asked Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari.
Tewari's remarks followed the Lok Sabha secretariat's decision to provide the speaker with a Jaguar brand swanky vehicle as her new official car.
Official sources said that the decision to purchase the new car was "routine."
They said a car was purchased during the term of Somnath Chaterjee as speaker and it was now nine years old, and another car was purchased during term of previous speaker Meira Kumar and it was almost four year old.
"This car purchased during the term of previous speaker will be used as spare car now. While purchasing the new car, all factors such as safety and security were considered," an official said.
--IANS
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