Honesty is the best PR policy

Honesty has become such a coveted virtue in political circles that parties actually think in terms of organising public relations exercises around a non-corrupt politician. Hoping to burnish its image of sanity, probity, transparency and simplicity ahead of the next elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assembly, the Congress party in Maharashtra is leveraging the occasion of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's daughter's wedding. Held at the chief minister's residence on November 29, with a select few guests, a press release from Chavan's office emphasised that it was a low-key affair and that Chavan even worked on the following Sunday. Today, however, there is a reception at Colaba and another at Chavan's home town of Karhad. So are there takers for Chavan's simplicity?