'He is out for a week travelling to Ghana and Liberia where he has important engagements. I don't think he has time to respond to this (charge),' added the aide.

Ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi led the push to trim official spending in the backdrop of the country struggling with the worst drought in two decades and food prices on the rise.

Sonia Gandhi asked all Congress MPs to accept a 20 percent pay cut for a year and also set a personal example by forgoing her normal chartered plane and flew economy class to Mumbai early this week.

Her son and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi went one step ahead and travelled by train to Ludhiana in Punjab instead of chartering a helicopter.