While attending a casual outreach programme in the auto driver uniform, Rahul Gandhi was spotted speaking with auto-rickshaw drivers in New Delhi on Friday, attracting widespread interest. The Congress chief was invited to a lunch meeting with the drivers at Todarmal Park in Bengali Market where he listened to their grievances on the skyrocketing cost of living and falling income.
The video footage of the interaction revealed that Rahul Gandhi interacted with workers, took selfies with children and exchanged a simple meal with the drivers on the site. Some of the drivers expressed that the Congress MP heard their problems – from fuel prices to the increasing cost of living and financial insecurity to transport workers.
Participants were told by Gandhi that topics concerning insurance and welfare of auto-rickshaw drivers and giving assistance to them will be discussed in Parliament. The engagement occurred when oil costs and inflation have been significant issues on the minds of many in the world, due to the West Asian situation and the current US-Iran conflict.
Later, Rahul Gandhi reiterated his emphasis on labour rights and dignity of labourers in his remarks on the meeting. He said that though daily wage workers and manual labourers play a major role in the economy they were neglected. Gandhi said that the inflation has made the survival of many workers who rely on the income earned from day to day difficult.
In a social media post, the Congress leader stated that the need to ensure dignity, fair rights and economic security for workers is one of his important missions in public life and that there is a lack of respect for manual labour in India. The interaction is seen as one of Gandhi’s outreach to the working class and informal sector workers in the run up to the political engagements.