Meal for Rs 12: Cong tries to save face, says poverty should not be trivialised

New Delhi: Seeking to defuse the controversy sparked by comments of some of its leaders that one could have food for as less as Rs 5, Congress today said no one was suggesting that poverty should be trivialised. Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, “We have to empathise with poverty…nobody is suggesting it’s a desirable way of living.” Raj Babbar, an MP and one of party’s spokespersons, had said a full meal could be had for Rs 12 in Mumbai while another party MP Rasheed Masood said one could eat well for Rs 5 in Jama Masjid locality of Delhi. [caption id=“attachment_987077” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Raj Babbar in this IBN-Live screengrab.[/caption] “I don’t think anybody is suggesting we should trivialise or mock at poverty,” Singhvi said. He said life was difficult for a lot of people living below and even above the poverty line and “we should understand that.” PTI