While Narendra Modi continues to boast about his elevation from a mere tea vendor to being the BJP's prime ministerial candidate and Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Aggarwal tries to pin him down by saying that a tea vendor can never hope to be the nation's prime minister, tea vendors in New Delhi said the prime minister's chair or office cannot be confined to the rich, influential or the privileged.
Shekhar, a tea stall owner at Shastri Bhawan, strongly believes that a tea vendor can be a prime minister because he listens to and understands the problems of the poor.
"Why should only scamsters with money power and guns have the right to contest elections? Tea sellers are also human beings. We have a mind to think like them. We can be PM," said Chandragupt, another tea vendor in Central Delhi.
He also said that he didn't agree with Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal's view that a tea vendor cannot have a national vision.
"It is trivial thinking. Modi is a ground leader," he said.
Another tea vendor in R K Puram nicknamed Monu said politics is all about money power.
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"If we get the money, we can also fight the elections and become Prime Minister," he said.
He also praised Modi for climbing the ladder of success.
Meanwhile, Naresh Agarwal has retracted his controversial statement.
Modi, on the other hand, is leaving no stone unturned to project himself as a ground leader who rose up the ranks through sheer hard work.
Life continues as usual for Delhi's tea vendors, and they are also listening to the political war of words with great interest.
