Anti-austerity drives

Many top Congress leaders are giving up their chauffeur-driven Ambassadors for swanky, self-driven cars. AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik recently shifted from his Maruti Esteem to a Maruti SX4. Janardan Dwivedi was noticed driving a top-end Toyota Corolla to the AICC headquarters on Saturday. General secretary BK Hari Prasad drives a modest Maruti Swift. Senior party leader Devendra Dwivedi comes in a chauffeur-driven Honda City. Yet another general secretary V Narayanasamy used a chauffeur-driven Esteem until he switched over to an Ambassador with a beacon on top after becoming a minister. The prominent few who still remain loyal to Ambassadors, owned by the AICC, include Motilal Vora, Digvijay Singh and Mohsina Kidwai. However, none of them are a match for AICC secretary and MLA Jai Kishan, whose fleet of luxury cars and SUVs stand out with their common registration number 8212; 001.