WATCH | Rahul Gandhi's Bus Ride in Bengaluru on Last Day of Poll Campaign, Interaction With Co-passengers

On the last day of the poll campaign in Karnataka, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday boarded a bus to capture the pulse of Bengaluru.

During his ride, he interacted with college students and working women ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections in Karnataka.

The former party chief stopped for a cup of coffee at a ‘Cafe Coffee Day’ outlet on Cunningham Road. At a close-by Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus stop, he spoke to a bunch of college students and working women.

He then hopped on to a BMTC bus and interacted with women passengers to understand their vision for Karnataka, party leaders said.

“They candidly discussed topics including the rising price of essentials, ‘Gruhalakshmi’ scheme (Rs 2,000 per month for woman head of household) and the Congress’ ‘guarantee’ of free travel for women in BMTC and KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation) buses,” they said.

The women told him about issues of transportation, and also price rise affecting their budgets.

Gandhi then got down from the bus at Lingarajapuram where he again spoke to women at the bus stop. Gandhi has addressed a series of election rallies in Karnataka.

Polling across 224 constituencies will begin at 7 am on May 10. The counting of votes will take place on May 13.

Congress is hoping to ride on the “anti-incumbency” wave to return to power while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is banking on works by its government in the state and the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image. Though the big contest is between Congress and BJP but Janata Dal (S), like in the last election, is expecting to become the kingmaker.

Earlier on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi met gig workers and delivery persons from various companies. He reiterated his party’s promise to set up a Gig Workers’ Welfare Board in Karnataka with a corpus fund of Rs 3,000 crore and minimum hourly wages for them.

Over a cup of coffee and masala dosa, Gandhi discussed with them to get an understanding of the lives of delivery workers, lack of stable employment and rising prices of basic commodities, Congress said in a party release.

He also keenly listened to why the youngsters had taken up gig jobs, and what were their working conditions like, the release stated.

“Bengaluru alone has over two lakh people doing gig jobs. The Congress party has made specific promises for them in the manifesto, mainly to set up a Gig Workers’ Welfare Board with a corpus of Rs 3,000 crore and to ensure minimum hourly wages for gig workers and other workers in the unorganised sector,” the party said.

Gandhi later hopped onto the pillion seat and went on a ride with a delivery partner.

(With PTI inputs)

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