New Delhi, June 10: Congress today alleged that wives of some of the senior government officials accompanying Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani on his visit to the United States and Britain were also travelling there on public money and wanted the government to clarify on the issue. "We are not (not) objecting to Advani accompanying his family members during the two nation tour, but to the officials accompanied by their wives as it would cost the exchequer heavily. There is no rationale behind it,” party spokesman Anand Sharma told reporters while reacting to over 23 senior officials visiting the two countries along with their spouses.
Taking a dig at Advani's foreign sojourn, he said that he had gone on the tour after "feeling the heat" of all the controversies - Liberhan Commission proceedings, karsevaks' statements on Ayodhya and the CBI filing the second chargesheet in the demolition case.
Bureau Report