BJP steps up its ‘Main bhi chowkidar’ campaign

Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday stepped up its ‘Main bhi chowkidar’ campaign with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other party leaders, including its President Amit Shah, prefixing the word ‘chowkidar’ to their names in their Twitter profile as they sought people’s support in the Lok Sabha elections.

Several Union Ministers, including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, prefixed ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) to their names.

The party leaders also put out short advertisement videos showing that people from different walks of life have turned ‘chowkidars’ to do their bit for the country like Modi.

Modi’s Twitter profile identified him as “Chowkidar Narendra Modi” and similar was the case with other BJP leaders as they launched a coordinated campaign.

“As chowkidars of our nation, we are committed to creating a clean economy by using cashless financial transactions. The menace of corruption and black money has adversely affected us for decades. Time to eliminate these for a better future.#MainBhiChowkidar #ChowkidarPhirSe,” Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted.

Shah tweeted a campaign video to highlight people’s efforts to keep their surroundings clean.

Modi had on Saturday urged his supporters to take the ‘main bhai chowkidar’ (I too am watchman) pledge, saying he is not alone in the fight against graft and social evils.

“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,” he wrote on Twitter.

On Sunday, slamming the BJP over the campaign, Congress President Rahul Gandhi said that the truth cannot change and everyone is saying “Chowkidar Chor Hai” (the watchman is a thief).

“You can keep trying Mr Modi, but the truth cannot be extinguished. Every Indian is saying it. #ChowkidarChorHai .

“P.S: Do force Sushma ji to add Chowkidar to her handle. It’s looking very bad,” Gandhi tweeted.

Swaraj also changed her Twitter handle by adding ‘chowkidar’ to it.