Madhya Pradesh Min’s reaction to hawker’s ‘expensive’ street food earns netizens’ wrath
2 min readA video from Madhya Pradesh has recently gone viral after a Minister was seen bargaining with a street vendor over the price of corn. The incident is from the Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh where Union Minister of State for Steel and Panchayat and Rural Development, Faggan Singh Kulaste was seen purchasing corn from a street vendor.
However, his reaction after coming to know about the corn’s price has caught the attention of the people. It was when Kulaste was going towards his constituency Mandla and decided to stop to buy corn. He spoke to the young boy selling corn and asked for its price.
However, he was surprised after the seller charged him Rs 15 for each corn. The minister also went on to state that the price is “very expensive” and it is “available for free” to which the boy said that he himself purchased it for Rs 5 each. Later, after paying the price, the Minister took off.
He also shared the video on his Twitter handle, though without mentioning the ‘price factor’. “While going to Mandla, got to taste the local corn. We all should buy food items from our local farmers and small shopkeepers. Due to this, they will get employment and we will get adulterated-free goods”, his caption reads.
आज सिवनी से मंडला जाते हुए। स्थानीय भुट्टे का स्वाद लिया। हम सभी को अपने स्थानीय किसानों और छोटे दुकानदारों से खाद्य वस्तुओं को ख़रीदना चाहिए। जिससे उनको रोज़गार और हमको मिलावट रहित वस्तुएँ मिलेंगी। @MoRD_GoI @BJP4Mandla @BJP4MP pic.twitter.com/aNsLP2JOdU
— Faggan Singh Kulaste (@fskulaste) July 21, 2022
Netizens criticise Minister over inflation rates
The video has gone viral on the Internet where netizens can be seen taking a dig at the Minister for calling ‘Rs 15’ as expensive when inflation rates are growing high in the country. While one asked him to levy a GST on corn prices, another user commented, “You find the corn sold by the poor people expensive, but you probably do not know that the domestic gas is sold at Rs 1053 / mustard oil at Rs 200 / petrol at Rs 100, pulses more than Rs 135, the flour that the poor used to buy earlier for Rs 19/22, today your government has forced them to but the same flour is sold for Rs 32/35. This is your good day.”
On the other hand, many also appreciated the Mandya MP’s approach towards local business.