Rahul meets Rameshwar, says his pain is absent from mainstream debate

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday shared a video of him serving lunch to vegetable seller Rameshwar and his family whom he hosted at his residence on 14 August.

The vegetable seller came to the nation's attention when, amidst soaring vegetable prices, a video of him crying about his inability to buy vegetables to sell at the local market went viral. The video also showed him asking, 'Rahul sir se meri baat ho sakti hai kya?' (can you help me speak to Rahul sir?)

Following the meeting, the former Congress president said that Rameshwar is the "voice of India" whose pain is absent from the mainstream debate, and it is "our moral responsibility" to listen and help people like him in their struggles.

Sharing an edited video of his meeting with Rameshwar and his family on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Rahul said: “Rameshwar ji is the voice of an India whose pains, issues and challenges are far away from the mainstream debate today. It is the moral responsibility of all of us to listen to the voice of that India and cooperate in fighting the struggles.”

In the full-length video, which lasts over nine minutes, Rahul spends candid moments with Rameshwar, his wife and daughter.

The Congress leader is also seen serving lunch to the family with his own hands, and holding discussions on the state of the nation. At one point, Rameshwar can be heard telling Rahul that he "did not want to live in this society any longer".

To this, Rahul replies: “Don’t say that again. Speaking from your heart isn’t a weakness, it is honesty. Don’t think about what others say. You only adhere to the truth.”

Rahul is also heard requesting Rameshwar to not call him 'sir' but use his first name instead.

At the start of the video, Rameshwar says Rahul Gandhi understands his pain and he was "lucky to be invited by him". In turn, Rahul said people like Rameshwar, who can smile in even adverse circumstances, "are truly Bharat Bhagya Vidhata".

“Rameshwar ji is a lively person. One can see the innate nature of crores of Indians in him. Those who move ahead with a smile even in adverse circumstances are truly 'Bharat Bhagya Vidhaata',” he wrote on X.

On 1 August, Rahul had visited Azadpur Mandi, one of Asia’s biggest vegetable and fruit markets, where he met a few vegetable and fruit vendors as well as traders, just a day after the video of Rameshwar went viral on social media.

Following his visit to the market, the Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad had slammed the Central government over rising inflation and accused it of not even listening to the poor.

Rahul's visit to Azadpur Mandi came in the wake of the soaring prices of vegetables nationwide, with several being sold at over Rs 100 per kg, and tomatoes at over Rs 200 per kg in several area of the national capital.

Rahul's visit to Azadpur came two days after his return from Kerala, where he received treatment for a childhood knee injury. Last month, he visited farms in Haryana's Sonepat, where he took part in sowing paddy saplings and also invited women farmers to his residence for lunch.

In May, he took a truck ride from Haryana's Murthal to Ambala in Punjab to understand problems faced by truck drivers. He also met gig workers in Karnataka's capital Bengaluru and rode on a two-wheeler with a delivery partner.

In April, he had visited the Delhi University PG men's hostel for lunch with students, and the Mukherjee Nagar area of Delhi to interact with UPSC aspirants, also travelling to Jama Masjid and the Bengali Market area.