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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to downplay the comments of Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on austerity on Twitter saying "it was a joke".
Asked about the controversy surrounding the "cattle class" remarks of Tharoor regarding the economy class travel by ministers in furtherance of government's austerity measures, he said, "it was a joke".
The PM was speaking to reporters at an Iftar party hosted by him, which was attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, Singh's cabinet colleagues and members of the diplomatic corps among others.