Row after car showroom staff ‘misbehaves’ with farmer

Bengaluru

A farmer being denied basic courtesy and respect when he went to purchase a vehicle in Tumakuru district, about 60 kms from Bengaluru, has drawn criticism online with netizens accusing the carmaker and its employees of being classist.

The incident has reportedly happened on Saturday evening when Kempe Gowda, a farmer from Ramanpalya, went to buy a new Bolero Pick-up truck from car-maker, Mahindra.

The car salesman allegedly laughed at Kempe Gowda and his friends.

“The field officer said that there is no vehicle for ₹10 and that no one comes to buy a vehicle like this,” Kempe Gowda said in a recorded video, which has now gone viral on social media.

His uncle then told the salesman that ₹10 lakh would be kept before them in half an hour and if the company would then deliver the car. The salesman said that he would deliver the car in less than half hour if they were able to produce the money.

The video surfaces at a time when classist and casteist remarks have become far too common in the southern state where discrimination on such grounds have become the norm in several places.

Kempe Gowda is heard saying that he would not leave the issue and fight till justice is served.

“This has happened to me and I am an educated person and have completed my SSLC (10th grade). If this has happened to me, imagine how farmers will be treated. This should not happen to anyone,” he is heard saying.

The video also shows Kempe Gowda trying to express the humiliation he faced due to the mindset of the salesperson.

The police intervened and a complaint was filed with the showroom personnel tendering a written apology.

Several netizens tagged Mahindra group and its Chairman, Anand Mahindra, on Twitter but there has been no response on the platform as yet.