Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today spent some time on a wintry Sunday afternoon with street vendors, savouring steaming hot "delicious street food" at a food festival organized by them.
"Enjoyed the delicious street food at the National Street Food Festival organised by NASVI at JLN Stadium!," he later said on microblogging website Twitter.
Gandhi mingled freely with street vendors and their families at NASVI National Street Food Festival 2015 during which some of them also clicked selfies with the Congress leader.
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Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said the party has been fighting for the street vendors for long.
"Delhi government has given an order banning cooking of food on roadside by street vendors. Congress opposes this decision. Roadside cooking should be allowed if street vendors are maintaining hygiene," Maken told PTI.
National Coordinator NASVI Arvind Singh said 500 street vendors from across the country are participating in the food fest.
"This is an advocacy forum for street food. It also serves to give an exposure to street food vendors from different states as to what is the street food scenario at the national level. This is also an opportunity for street vendors to showcase their ability to deliver hygenic food," Singh said.
Recalling the Bhatta Parsaul incident, Gandhi said when
he raised the matter, people made fun of him.
"When farmers in Bhatta Parsaul came to me, they told me about their pain. People made fun of me at that time and said why did you go to Bhatta Parsaul. I remember, they said nothing had happened in Bhatta Parsaul.
"There was a truth in Bhatta Parsaul and farmers were feeling the pain. I fought for them and in the end, we got the Land Acquisition Bill," he said.
He said the youth of Punjab had come to him and shared their pain about drug problem in the state, saying, "our future is being ruined".