Poor getting obliterated’: Vegetable vendor from viral video tells Rahul Gandhi during luncheon meet.

Riding pillion on a delivery man's bike during the Karnataka polls, hitching a ride with truck drivers to Ambala in May, a visit to a bike repair shop in Delhi last month, interaction with farmers in Haryana's Sonipat, visiting the Azadpur wholesale vegetable market, and now hosting a vegetable vendor for lunch at his house — Rahul Gandhi has been on a social outreach programme since his Bharat Jodo Yatra and has been posting videos of the interactions on YouTube.

From rising food prices to the dangers of speaking the truth, the Congress MP recently had a heart-to-heart with vegetable vendor Rameshwar, who had recently gone viral on social media, and hosted a meal for him and his family at his Delhi apartment.

Gandhi commented on X (previously Twitter) after sharing the video, "Rameshwar ji is the voice of an India whose pains, issues, and challenges are far from the mainstream debate today." It is all of our moral responsibilities to listen to that India's voice and work together to battle the conflicts.

"I'm just a vegetable vendor." What you see in the viral video is accurate. When I went to the wholesale market that day, I had about Rs 1,500 with me, but after seeing the prices at which tomatoes were being sold, I realised I wouldn't be able to buy anything. "I thought coming to Delhi would be better for me and my family, but things only got worse as I fell into deep poverty," Rameshwar told Gandhi.

When Gandhi enquired if his efforts were being properly recognised, Rameshwar said, "I get nothing." I work every day, my legs have given out, and I still have nothing. Our problems are not being addressed by the government. The country's underprivileged are being decimated, while the rich are becoming richer."

During the meeting, Gandhi also spoke with Rameshwar's daughter. Gandhi then went on to explain to Rameshwar that stating the truth is fraught with danger because people will band together to silence them.

"If you're speaking the truth, don't worry about what others think." Simply stay on your course and work hard to achieve it. The Congress proposed the NYAY scheme, under which the poor would receive Rs 72,000 per year. "Those earning crores are always given relief, but the poor get nothing," Gandhi stated.

Rivals, particularly the BJP, have mocked Rahul as a pampered dynast divorced from the everyday grind of most Indians, and he has tried multiple image reinventions during his political career. The restless, violent young man who ripped into a government ordinance is a thing of the past. The emphasis this time is on showing Gandhi as an everyman, both to put Opposition parties contemplating a cooperation with the Congress at ease and to contrast him with the larger-than-life Prime Minister Narendra Modi.