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.