PM Modi launches 'main bhi chowkidar' campaign, turns Rahul Gandhi's jab into new poll mantra

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has turned the biggest political accusation against him into a new poll mantra. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s ‘chowkidar chor hai’ jab has been turned into ‘main bhi chowkidar’ campaign. PM Modi took to Twitter on Saturday and launched the campaign that is seen as another tagline for BJP’s poll programme. This election season, BJP is going with ‘Modi hai toh mumkin hai’ slogan.

 

Your Chowkidar is standing firm & serving the nation.

But, I am not alone.

Everyone who is fighting corruption, dirt, social evils is a Chowkidar.

Everyone working hard for the progress of India is a Chowkidar.

Today, every Indian is saying-#MainBhiChowkidar

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 16, 2019

PM Modi has often described himself as a "chowkidar" who would neither allow corruption nor get corrupted himself. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been repeatedly hurling the "chowkidar chor hai"(watchman is the thief) jibe at Modi to claim irregularities and favouritism in the Rafale fighter jet deal, a charge the BJP-led government has rejected.

This new poll campaign is a clever comeback at the Congress chief. In fact, Gandhi’s oft-repeated ‘chowkidar chor hai’ jibe at the Prime Minister miffed the security guards association, which had demanded the Mumbai police to file a case against the Congress president. The Maharashtra Rajya Suraksha Rakshak Union submitted an application at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) police station in Mumbai Monday, claiming the remark was an "insult" to security guards, PTI quoted a police official as saying.

The association had claimed that during his rally at the MMRDA grounds here earlier this month, Gandhi said that "chowkidar chor hai" (the guard is the thief), police said. The Union president Sandeep Ghuge said police should register an offence against Gandhi to stop "such kind of slogans insulting the security guards."

In 2014, BJP had also turned senior Congress leader Manishankar Aiyar’s ‘chaiwala’ jab in to a mega public campaign.

Narendra Modi continues to be the popular choice of the nation for the prime ministerial post, while the popularity of the BJP-led NDA government has witnessed a downfall, revealed the opinion poll conducted by News Nation. As per the survey, 47 per cent of the respondents said they want Modi to continue as the prime minister while 30 per cent chose Congress chief Rahul Gandhi over the former. Also, 55 per cent of the participants said there is no match to PM Modi's stature, while 32 per cent disagreed on this.