BJP, citizens slam President Patil; Cong remains mum. The President's office claims she is spending her own money

As news broke out on the large entourage and relatives that accompany President Pratibha Patil during her five-day tour of Gujarat, criticism deepens across the country against her reported extravagances. The man on the street, netas and celebrities question why the President is spending the taxpayer's money, at a time when the world is reeling from recession.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0

While the government is cutting corners, President Pratibha Patil reportedly still goes on her trips with more than 40 members, including her relatives.

According to sources from the Information Department of the Gujarat government, the President is on a five-day trip, where she is visiting famous places like Ahmedabad, Gandhi Nagar, Vallabh Vidya Nagar, Anand, Dwaraka, Poirbandar, Gir Forest, Diu and Rajkot. The source further adds that the President has three helicopters, with a carrying capacity of 15 people each, and the best accommodation facilities made available for all of them. The rest of the Presidents' entourage is on the five-day trip as well and all are travelling in air-conditioned buses across the state.

Three relatives are also accompanying the President and one of them is her brother G N Patil, an alleged accused in a murder case. According to sources from the President's Amravati house, no one from Amravati is accompanying her. But perhaps people from Jalgaon (her native place) are with her on the trip because a Gujarat Information Ministry officer confirmed that relatives from Maharashtra were accompanying the President and that one of them is her brother.

'She's like an English babu'
One of the BJP ministers from Gujarat who was with President Patil, says, "She reminds me of the era of the Viceroys, when the English babus were least bothered of the rest of the country. When there are floods are in Andhra and Karnataka, the President is enjoying her trip, eating the best of the delicacies of Gujarat. Not even once has she offered to cancel the trip."

According to sources from Gujarat the President on her trip also broke the age-old tradition of delivering a speech on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti. The Presidents trip to Gujarat has brought her criticism not only from the opposition party but also from the Congress.
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'It's a regretful event'
Prabhat Jha, National secretary, BJP says, "If the constitutional chief of India ignores the statement of Pranab Mukherjee, of spending less money andu00a0 not wasting the money of the government unnecessarily, then it is a regretful event. What can one expect form others?"

However, most Congress leaders shied away from offering an opinion on President Patil's trip. M Veerappa Moily, the Union Law Minister said, "I don't want to comment on the issue." Congress MP Rajeev Shukla says, "I am in Johannesburg for the Champions trophy and do not know anything about the issue." However, one Congress MP, who did not wish to be named, stated, "If the President has taken these many people with her, then it is wrong on her part. She shouldn't have done it."