A rickshaw puller in Uttar Pradesh got a lucky ride on Thursday when he took Paytm chief executive officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's residence.
Sharma was on his way to CM's 5 Kalidas Marg residence to receive Yash Bharti award. But his car got stuck in traffic and he asked rickshaw puller Mani Ram to take him to CM's residence.
But Man Ram didn't know that the "man in the kurta" who he was taking to the CM's residence is none other than CEO of Paytm, one of India's top mobile wallet startups with over 122 million users.
"I took him to there....at the gate he had a word with the security guards and they let us right through," Mani Ram told NDTV.
After dropping Sharma at the doorstep, Akhilesh Yadav inquired about Maniram.
"He asked me how long I have been working here, how long I have been driving a rickshaw...where I am from..." said Mani Ram, who is from Rae Bareli, around 100 km from the Uttar Pradesh capital.
He told the chief minister that what he wanted most was an auto-rickshaw and his own home.
Akhilesh called his aides and handed him Rs 6,000 on the spot, as a Diwali gift. He also assured him a house, e-rickshaw and Samajwadi Pension scheme for his wife.
The chief minister also shared his picture on twitter. "A traffic jam forced Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma to visit us in a cycle rickshaw. Lucknow Metro will help solve the traffic jams in city," his tweet reads.
It was a little breather for Akhilesh also, who is battling family feud just months ahead of the Uttar Pradesh election.
