It looked like a scene out of a movie. When a group of farmers went to a Mahindra car showroom in Karnataka’s Tumakuru to buy a new pick-up truck, they were taunted by the car showroom salesman over their clothes and appearance. "He said, I wouldn't even have Rs 10, let alone Rs 10 lakh to buy the car," a farmer is heard saying in a now-viral video that has captured the movie-style comeback for the farmers.
Kempe Gowda, a farmer from Ramanapalya, and a group of his friends and relatives reached the showroom and began to look at the cars. However, they began to get snide remarks and taunts from some employees at the showroom.
“They laughed at us and pointed towards our clothes. They felt that I'm not in a position to pay the money. One of their field officers told me, ‘You probably don't even have Rs 10, you will buy this vehicle?’ He even said that those who come to buy a vehicle don't come to the showroom the way we had," Kempe Gowda said.
Then, Kempe Gowda said, one of the employees said he would deliver the car to them if they were able to procure Rs 10 lakh in 30 minutes. “We were standing there and (the employees) were laughing at us. No one came to support us,” he said.
Mahindra Car showroom salesman taunted a farmer aftr seeing his attire when he visited showroom to buy Bolero Pik-up. Farmer Kempegowda alleged field officer of showroom made fun of farmer & his attire, told him tat car is not worth 10 rupees for him to buy. @anandmahindra pic.twitter.com/9fXbc5naY7
— Sagay Raj P || ಸಗಾಯ್ ರಾಜ್ ಪಿ (@sagayrajp) January 23, 2022
But Kempe Gowda and his friends insisted that their booking be noted down. Gowda kept his promise and came back with Rs 10 lakh in half an hour, and expected the employee to keep his word and deliver the car they wanted. However, the car was not delivered to Kempe Gowda. The employee was reportedly unable to keep his word as the waitlist was long.
Kempe Gowda is heard saying that they would consider going to the police to resolve the issue in a fair way. “We can file a police complaint. If there is a fault on our side we will apologise. On your side, you must promise to never treat farmers this way,” he said.
The matter did end up going to the police, and a complaint with the showroom employees’ written apology was filed. But deciding that the apology was not enough, the group reportedly walked away without the car, but with Rs 10 lakh in hand.
With PTI inputs