By Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 29, 2013 (with the original video available)

NEW DELHI — If you've imagined yourself rolling in dough, you might think twice before acting on that dream, at least if you're an Indian politician.

Samar Acharjee, an official with India's Communist Party in the northeastern state of Tripura, decided a few months ago to sleep on a bed of cash as his friend recorded the golden moment on a cellphone. In the blurry footage, he's seen in a yellow shirt and blue jeans lounging on stacks of rupee notes, worth about $24,000 in all, some covering his head and chest.

Acharjee brags on camera that this is a fraction of the $110,000 he's earned from government contracts, that he's not a hypocrite like other leaders of Tripura's ruling Communists, who "depict themselves as proletariats." He tells the lens his ultimate goal is to sleep on a bigger bed, maybe six times as much [....]