PM Modi, Amit Shah remove ‘Chowkidar’ prefix from their Twitter handles

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh are among BJP leaders who Thursday evening removed “chowkidar” (security guard) from their Twitter handles. "Now, the time has come to take the Chowkidar Spirit to the next level. Keep this spirit alive at every moment and continue working for India’s progress. The word ‘Chowkidar’ goes from my Twitter name but it remains an integral part of me. Urging you all to do the same too!" Modi tweeted.

"The people of India became Chowkidars and rendered great service to the nation. Chowkidar has become a powerful symbol to safeguard India from the evils of casteism, communalism, corruption and cronyism," he added.

Modi had added chowkidar in his Twitter handle on March 17, a day after launching the "Main Bhi Chowkidar (I am a watchman too)" campaign on social media.

Several BJP leaders including party president Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and  Arun Jaitley also followed suit and dropped the prefix from their profiles. The campaign was launched days after the Lok Sabha polls were announced on March 10 to counter Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's repeated "chowkidar chor hai" (watchman is a thief) jibes on Modi over alleged irregularities in the Rafale jet deal.

Gandhi had latched on to the jibe in most of his election rallies. During the 2014 election campaign Modi had said that he would work like a chowkidar to protect people's money and interests once elected.