M. Krishna and his deputy Shashi Tharoor were asked this week to move out of five-star hotels where they had been staying for over three months as their official bungalows were yet to be readied.

N.S.V. Chitthan, an MP from Tamil Nadu, said the party asked the parliamentarians to contribute 20 percent of their salary to the government's special fund for the drought relief.

'I will reach Delhi tomorrow and contribute the amount,' Chitthan told IANS.

On paper, a Lok Sabha member's monthly salary is Rs.16,000. But after counting the numerous allowances and perks it adds up to nearly Rs.42,000 a month.

'Sonia Gandhi has suggested that party workers and MPs adopt austerity measures so that their public and private lives reflect the concern for those who are less fortunate,' said another MP from Maharashtra.

'Giving up 20 percent of our salaries should not be a tough task,' he added.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, an MP from West Bengal, described himself as 'a lower middle-class MP' who has always led a simple life.

'Unlike the MPs from the north and west, most MPs from West Bengal, cutting across party lines, lead a very simple life,' Chowdhury said.

At a cabinet meeting Thursday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was 'upset' as he rejected some of his colleagues' arguments in favour of travelling business class, saying that these were unusual times and austerity measures were for only for a year.