Rahul joins austerity drive, takes train to Ludhiana

September 19th, 2009 BANGALORE - Austerity measures the government has introduced are not at the cost of security for top leaders, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee clarified here Saturday. "So far as the austerity measures are concerned, it is clearly stipulated that it will not compromise the security measures to be adopted by the government to protect some individuals, particularly those who are more vulnerable and protected by the SPG (Special Protection Group)," Mukherjee told reporters here.

September 18th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Terming the austerity drive of the Congress as a "political stunt", Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Maneka Gandhi Friday said it would have been better if the Congress government focused on strategising ways to fight corruption. "If ministers get committed to weed out corruption, I think there would be surely no need for any austerity drive.

September 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, who has come under fire for his stay in a luxury hotel, had been travelling economy class much before the austerity measures were announced by the government. Sources close to Tharoor said the minister had taken almost 5 flights from Aug 9, travelling to Bangalore, Chennai and Kochi, and on all occasions booked himself in economy class.

September 17th, 2009 GHARAUNDA - Three teenagers were detained Thursday for allegedly throwing stones at a train in which Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi was travelling Tuesday evening, police said. Based on our investigation, today (Thursday) we have detained three teenagers from Gharaunda village for questioning.

September 17th, 2009 GHARAUNDA - Two teenagers from poor families were arrested here Thursday evening for allegedly throwing stones at a train in which Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi was travelling, police said. The boys confessed they threw stones regularly at passing trains for fun.

September 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A day after stones were pelted at a train in which Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi was travelling, the Congress Wednesday said security of leaders under protection of the Special Protection Group (SPG) was important along with austerity measures. We are committed to the austerity measures, but in such incidents, the security issues should be kept in mind and security of SPG protectees is of paramount importance, Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters.

September 16th, 2009 GHARAUNDA - Police in Haryana Wednesday hunted for four or five young men who allegedly stoned the Swarn Shatabdi Express in which Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi was travelling the previous evening from Ludhiana to New Delhi. The police and Railway Protection Force (RPF) probing the stone attack Tuesday evening near this Haryana town, 120 km from New Delhi, said that the guard at a railway gate had seen four or five youths, aged 16 to 18 years near the spot.

September 16th, 2009 GHARAUNDA - The Haryana police Wednesday launched a massive manhunt for a group of young men who allegedly stoned a train in which Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi was travelling the previous evening, even as the party said security of leaders was as important as austerity measures. The police searched for four or five young men who allegedly stoned the Swarn Shatabdi Express in which Gandhi was travelling from Ludhiana to New Delhi.

September 16th, 2009 GHARAUNDA - Police and forensic experts in Haryana were Wednesday questioning people and searching villages to identify those who pelted stones at the Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi Express in which Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi was travelling. The incident took place Tuesday night near Gharaunda town, about 20 km from Panipat town and 100 km from the national capital.

September 15th, 2009 LUDHIANA - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Tuesday left Ludhiana as he had come -- by train, joining top leaders of the party enforcing austerity measures amid a drought. Gandhi boarded the Swarn Shatabdi Express train for Delhi in an air-conditioned Chair Car instead of the plush Executive Class, a day after his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi flew economy class to Mumbai.

September 15th, 2009 LUDHIANA - Congress general secretary and parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi reached this industrial city of Punjab from New Delhi in an air-conditioned chair car of the Shatabdi Express Tuesday, a day after party president and his mother Sonia Gandhi travelled economy class on a flight from the national capital to Mumbai. Rahul Gandhi made the four hour journey from New Delhi to Ludhiana as an ordinary passenger, eschewing the executive class coach as part of the austerity drive announced by India's ruling Congress party in view of the drought situation in the country.

September 15th, 2009 PANIPAT - The Swarn Shatabdi Express by which Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is travelling from Ludhiana to New Delhi was stoned by miscreants Tuesday evening near Gharaunda town near Panipat, in Haryana. No one was injured, officials said.

September 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - As Congress leaders try to outdo each other in taking austerity measures, other political parties have dubbed the drive "mere tokenism" and "drama" which they say aims to divert attention from the serious problems plaguing the country. "What is more important is real work on the ground to address the suffering of the common man.

September 15th, 2009 PANIPAT - The Swarn Shatabdi Express by which Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is travelling from Ludhiana to New Delhi was stoned by miscreants Tuesday evening near Gharaunda town, near here. No one was injured, but window panes of three coaches of the train were damaged.

September 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - His train journey from Ludhiana marred by an incident of stone throwing, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi reached the national capital Tuesday night without any other untoward incident. The Congress leader, travelling by the Swarn Shatabdi Express, alighted at the New Delhi Railway Station at around 11.20 p.m.