BENGALURU: If Prime Minister Narendra Modi rode an open-top saffron car for his roadshow in Bengaluru, AICC former president Rahul Gandhi hopped on to a food delivery boy’s bike and did the city rounds on Sunday. If Modi tried to interact with people by waving or gesticulating as they showered him with flowers, Rahul left behind his SPG protective ring and attempted to speak to the aam aadmi.
Rahul, who was travelling across the state with his sister Priyanka Gandhi, was in Bengaluru on the last day of his campaign for the Karnataka polls. He interacted with gig workers at Airlines Hotel, off St Mark’s Road, where they had masala dose and coffee. They discussed issues related to delivery workers, lack of stable employment and rising prices of basic commodities.
Rahul spoke about the corruption of the BJP government, the Congress’ five-guarantee scheme, besides setting up a gig workers’ welfare board with a corpus of Rs 3,000 crore, and minimum hourly wages for workers of the unorganised sector.
In a video, Rahul is seen leaving Airlines Hotel and stopping near a crowd where a young boy is crying, and consoles him. Then, in a seemingly impromptu act, he takes off on the bike of a food delivery agent, riding pillion and wearing a helmet. The duo traverse the CBD, from Raj Bhavan Road to Chinnaswamy Stadium and surrounding roads, the SPG right behind. Throughout the ride, covering a couple of kilometers, Rahul is seen chatting with the delivery partner, waving to the crowds and greeting them.