Billa No. 756: Rahul Gandhi dons porter hat at Anand Vihar station
During his visit, which the Congress said was in response to porters' request last month, Gandhi discussed issues ranging from lack of toilets to absence of sleeping facilities at one of the busiest transit points in the city.
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Rahul Gandhi at Anand Vihar station on Thursday. PTIEast Delhi’s Anand Vihar Railway Station had an unusual guest on Thursday as Congress MP Rahul Gandhi met with the porters, listened to their woes, and briefly donned their uniform — the characteristic red shirt complete with badge number 756. During the visit, the Wayanad MP was also seen carrying a suitcase on his head for a while.
During his visit, which the Congress said was in response to porters’ request last month, Gandhi discussed issues ranging from lack of toilets to absence of sleeping facilities at one of the busiest transit points in the city.
“We have over 165 porters working at Anand Vihar but there’s only one small room designated to all of us. The space was built when Anand Vihar had only 25 porters, this is why most of us are sleeping on the platforms,” Abdul Samad, who has been working as a porter for the past 28 years, said. “We have requested him to get a bigger hall built to accommodate all the porters,” he added.
Jabuddin, who has been working as a porter for 30 years, said, “All our washroom doors are broken… unclean and water supply is also irregular, it becomes difficult for us to take a bath.”
Mohammad Rafi, who has been working as a porter for the past 10 years, complained that their rates have remained the same in a decade. “We are paid Rs 100 for carrying 40 kgs of weight. Price of everything has increased over the last 10 years but our salaries remained the same,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) termed Rahul Gandhi’s visit theatrics.
Amit Malviya, BJP’s national information and technology department in-charge, pointed out in a post on X that the suitcase being carried by Gandhi had wheels. “It is obvious he hasn’t been to a railway station of late… Several of them now have escalators or ramps for convenience of passengers and porters. All this is nothing but theatrics.”
On August 1, Rahul Gandhi interacted with vendors at Delhi’s wholesale vegetables and fruits market in reaction to a video of a vegetable vendor in tears talking about rising prices resulting in difficulties for him and others like him.
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