Tomato price rise: Samajwadi Party worker in Varanasi hires bouncers to 'guard' vegetables

As the prices of tomatoes continue to climb, vegetable vendors are resorting to desperate measures to avoid being beaten up to a pulp by their buyers.

To avoid getting into heated arguments with his buyers, a grocer, Ajay Fauji, from the Lanka area of Varanasi has deployed two bouncers to not just “guard” the pricey tomatoes but to prevent buyers from getting too aggressive. The buyers, it seems, furiously haggle over the soaring costs of this essential vegetable, which has almost turned into a luxury item.

“I kept hearing about arguments over the tomato price among people. People at my shop too tried to haggle. So to put an end to the constant arguments, I decided to deploy bouncers in uniform at my cart,” Fauji told PTI.

Fauji, who is selling tomatoes at ₹140-160 per kg, has bouncers deployed at his cart from 9 am to 5 pm.

He, however, refused to reveal how much he hired them for. “No one will provide bouncers free of cost.” Asked how keeping bouncers at his cart has helped him, Fauji said even though people are coming in same numbers, they are less militant about the pricing now.

Fauji is a Samajwadi Party worker and had earlier cut a tomato-shaped cake in Varanasi on the birthday of Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. The SP chief Akhilesh Yadav too shared the image of a news clip relating to Fauji and his bouncers, and tweeted, “The BJP should provide Z-Plus security to tomatoes.”

(With input from agencies)