Rahul Gandhi takes truck ride in US with Indian-origin driver: 'We have a lot of opportunities here'; WATCH

RAHUL GANDHI, one of India's major opposition faces who is currently touring the US, recently travelled from Washington to New York in a truck and got into a candid conversation with the driver that centred around the everyday lives of Indian-origin truck drivers in America.

Gandhi's journey in the US comes days after he took a similar ride from Delhi to Chandigarh to understand the problems that truck drivers face in India.

Continuing his journey to listen to people in India as well as overseas, the 52-year-old Congress leader went on a 190-kilometre long "American Truck Yatra" from Washington DC to New York with driver Taljinder Singh Vicky Gill and his companion Ranjeet Singh Banipal, a journey that ended with a scrumptious breakfast at an eatery, according to a release issued by the grand-old party.

In visuals and videos, the former Congress chief was seen sitting inside a truck, travelling with a driver, and speaking to drivers at a dhaba (eatery).

During the ride, Gandhi noted that the trucks in the US are designed keeping in mind the safety and comfort of the driver, which is not the case in India.

He later tweeted a YouTube video of his journey and said in Hindi, "How much do you earn?" "Play some songs? Of Sidhu Musewala?" “It is because of us truckers that the work of the manufacturers is done.” Truck trip in America with an Indian driver, his experiences and stories!"

It was also highlighted during the ride that while truck drivers in India struggle to make ends meet with meagre wages and a record price rise, their American counterparts receive dignity for their labour with decent wages.

During his conversation with Gill about the rising prices of commodities, inflation and politics in India, Gandhi noted that no religion teaches one to spread hate.

"There are a lot of lessons we can draw from the American truck industry to plan a new vision for the truck industry here in India. Indian truck drivers are the lifeline of our logistics and deserve a life of dignity too," the statement said.

They are at the forefront of 'Bharat Jodo', literally, and their progress is bound to have a positive cascading effect on the entire economy of India, it added. Gandhi undertook a mammoth walkathon called 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' (Unite India March) from India's southernmost state to the northernmost province between September last year and March this year to mobilise support.

(With PTI inputs)