Gurugram: Rampal Kashyap, a 55-year-old daily wage labourer from Kheri Gulam Ali in Haryana’s Kaithal district, walked barefoot for 14 years, vowing not to wear shoes until he met the Prime Minister once the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed a full-majority government at the Centre. He finally put on his footwear in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week.
On 14 April, Prime Minister Modi gifted him sneakers at a rally in Yamunanagar and helped him put them on, urging, “Do not retake such vows.” The moment, captured in a viral video shared by Modi, marked the end of Rampal’s extraordinary pledge.
Contrary to reports that he vowed not to wear chappals until Modi became Prime Minister, Rampal Kashyap says he took the vow even before Modi came into “the picture”, bidding for a meeting with whoever became PM once the BJP secured a majority win at the Centre.
On Tuesday, the BJP shared two pictures—Congressman and former Puducherry chief minister V. Narayanasamy helping leader Rahul Gandhi wear his slippers and the PM helping Rampal Kashyap wear sneakers—juxtaposed against each other. The caption, seemingly written to mock Rahul, was “Apni Apni Sanskriti (Each person has his culture)”.
A Class 5-educated daily wager, Rampal Kashyap lives with his wife, two sons, and daughter. His elder son—married four months ago—is also a labourer.
For 40 long years, Rampal has been a loyal BJP worker, drawn to—what he calls—the party’s “voice for the working class”.
“When I was young, an INLD (Indian National Lok Dal) leader tried to recruit me. I refused, saying I would only carry the BJP flag,” Rampal Kashyap tells The Print Tuesday morning over a phone call, during which a PMO team arrives at his home.
“A team from the PMO came, with cameramen, to my place, interviewed me, did a photoshoot, and left in the afternoon,” says Rampal later that evening when contacted again by ThePrint.
Rampal Kashyap has been a steadfast BJP supporter since its early days when it was struggling with its attempts to establish a foothold in the state.
“I was an ardent follower when the party did not have much base in Haryana,” he recalls.
As a reward for his dedication, Rampal bore witness to the party’s first taste of power in Haryana in 1987 when the BJP formed the state government in an alliance with Devi Lal’s Indian National Lok Dal.
Rampal Kashyap also kept a close watch on the BJP’s journey nationally, from its brief 13-day government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996 to a 13-month term in 1998-99, and finally, a full term from 1999 to 2004.
With a tinge of disappointment, Rampal says, “The BJP never had a full majority of its own in those years.”
When The Print asked him why he did not break his vow when the BJP came to power at the Centre, with a majority, in 2014, and again, in 2019, Rampal Kashyap says that a clause of his pledge was that he would wear shoes again in the presence of the PM only once the BJP came to power at the Centre with a majority mandate.
“However, no one might ever have taken my pledge to the notice of Modi ji,” he says.
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The pledge: Beginning & end
In 2012, a villager taunted Rampal Kashyap during the rule of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), claiming the BJP would never govern Delhi, Haryana, or their Guhla assembly constituency in the Kaithal district.
Stung, Rampal vowed to go barefoot till the BJP had a majority in the Centre, and he met its leader.
“When I took this oath in 2012, Modi was not even in the picture. It was about a BJP government with a full majority. The BJP announced Modi as the PM face in 2013,” Rampal Kashyap tells ThePrint.
For 14 years, he endured scorching summers and freezing winters without footwear. He attended weddings—including his son’s—barefoot despite his family’s pleas, asking him to wear footwear.
“People mocked me, saying, ‘New clothes, no chappals—what is wrong with him?’ The cold and heat hurt at first, but my vow mattered more,” Rampal says.
Nearly a week ago, Rajya Sabha MP Rekha Sharma visited Kaithal for a party event, which Rampal attended. At the event, some local leaders introduced Rampal Kashyap to Sharma, revealing his pledge to her.
“She shot my video and told me she would share it with the PM. A day before Modi’s two rallies in Haryana, I got a communication from the PMO, informing me that on Monday, PM Modi would help me wear shoes,” he says.
At the Monday rally, where Modi laid the foundation for an 800 MW power plant unit, he also honoured Rampal’s party loyalty.
“I am humbled by people such as Rampal ji, but channel your love into nation-building,” Modi said, patting the shoulder of the 55-year-old.
Upon his return home, villagers garlanded Rampal Kashyap, likening his 14-year-standing vow to Ram’s 14 years of exile in the Dandaka forest, as mythologised in the epic Ramayana.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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