THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Stanley who runs a tea shop was so elated after a leader visited his shop for the first time in 25 years. Rahul Gandhi and prominent Congress leaders had tea and snacks from this shop during the Bharat Jodo Yatra yesterday. Stanley and his family were overjoyed with the unexpected guests at his shop which has been operating for a quarter of a century at Neyyattinkara Udiyankulangara Kunnathuvila Junction.

Stanley's wife Prameela and children Arya and Annie were standing in front of the shop to see Rahul Gandhi. When the padayatra reached Kunnathuvila Junction, K C Venugopal seeing them brought them near Rahul. He saw the shop then and wanted to have tea. The next moment Rahul came inside the shop. K C Venugopal, opposition leader V D Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala, K Muraleedharan, V S Sivakumar, Palode Ravi and many others accompanied the leader.

Rahul enjoyed the strong tea. Ate bananas, vada and cake. Had a second cup of tea also. The others had tea and juice. By then, there was a huge crowd outside the shop. Though the media photographers tried to enter the shop, the police cordoned them off. After spending nearly 20 minutes in the shop, Rahul asked them their names and took photos before leaving. Prameela said this is the first time a national leader is visiting their shop. They were double happy that it was Rahul Gandhi.