Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Rahul, Priyanka ridicule Modi over 'chowkidar' campaign

INDIA prime minister Narendra Modi's 'Main bhi chowkidar' campaign on Monday (18) drew more ridicule from Congress president Rahul Gandhi and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Raising the Rafale issue, Rahul said Modi was attempting to convert the whole country into chowkidar after being "caught", while Priyanka said chowkidar are only for the rich not the poor.


"Unki (Prime Minister) marzi apne naam ke aage kya lagaen. Mujhe ek kisan bhai ne kaha ki 'dekhiye chowkidaar toh ameeron ke hotey hain, hum kisan toh apney khud chowkidaar hotey hain ("It is up to him what prefix he uses in his name. Yesterday I met a group of farmers. One of them told me, chowkidars are for the rich. We farmers are our own chowkidars)," Congress general secretary Priyanka said.

She was speaking after kicking off the election campaign in eastern Uttar Pradesh with her 'Ganga Yatra' on boat.

Rahul, who has been targeting the prime minister with "Chowkidar chor hai" (watchman is a thief) jibe alleging corruption in Rafale fighter jet deal, said, "Chowkidar was caught indulging in theft and as he was caught, chowkidar says the whole of Hindustan is chowkidar."

"But before getting caught, the entire Hindustan was not chowkidar," said Gandhi.

The prime minister had in his election rallies said that he would work as a watchmen against the corrupt.

Rahul and his sister stepped up the attack a day after BJP intensified its "Main bhi chowkidar" (I too am watchman) campaign to counter the Congress' offensive, with Modi and other party leaders, including its president Amit Shah prefixing the word chowkidar to their names in their Twitter profile.

Modi's Twitter account profile identified him as "Chowkidar Narendra Modi" as did other BJP leaders.

Rahul said, "When he became prime minister, he said don't make me prime minister, make me chowkidar, do you remember? He had never said make whole of Hindustan into chowkidaars."

"The whole country knows that 'Chowkidar chor hai'," Gandhi said at a public rally in Kalaburagi, Lok Sabha constituency of Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge in north Karnataka.

"If the documents become part of inquiry, Modi and Ambani would go to jail. Why is he not having an inquiry? That's why this campaign 'Chowkidar Chor Hai'...," Gandhi said on Rafale.

He claimed he could give a list of defence contracts that Anil Ambani and "Modi's friends have been given, one after the other, and they have only got caught on Rafale, which happens to be the really big contract in the world. So that's why everybody is saying chowkidar chor hai."

Addressing public meetings, Modi had alleged that the corrupt were having sleepless nights and had targeted the opposition saying they were coming together against him as he was working as a watchman for the country.

The prime minister on Saturday (16) urged his supporters to take the 'main bhi 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.

(PTI)

More For You

King Charles

King Charles, wearing a black armband to pay respects to the victims of Air India plane crash, attends the Trooping the Colour parade on his official birthday in London. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Victims remembered during King Charles's birthday parade

A MINUTE's silence for the victims of the Air India plane crash was observed on Saturday during the Trooping the Colour parade in London marking King Charles's official birthday. Some members of the royal family wore black armbands during the ceremony.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said King Charles, 76, had requested changes to the parade “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rochdale grooming case

They were all remanded in custody, except Bashir, who absconded before the trial began. (Photo: Greater Manchester Police)

Seven men convicted of raping 13-year-old girls in Rochdale grooming case

SEVEN men were convicted on Friday in the UK’s latest grooming trial, after a jury heard that two girl victims were forced to have sex “with multiple men on the same day, in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses”.

Jurors at the court in Manchester, northwest England, deliberated for three weeks before finding the seven men, all of whom are of South Asian descent, guilty of rape.

Keep ReadingShow less
karan-thakar

Karun Thakar is a leading textile collector with a lifelong focus on Asian and African textiles

Karun Collection

Karun Thakar Fund to support textile research with scholarships and grants

THE KARUN THAKAR FUND, established by textile collector Karun Thakar in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), supports the study of Asian and African textiles and dress through scholarships and project grants.

The fund offers one-time Scholarship Awards of up to £10,000 for university students worldwide focusing on any aspect of Asian or African textiles and dress. Undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students from any accredited university are eligible, provided their research or practice is clearly linked to these areas. The next round of Scholarship Award applications opens on 1 May 2025 and closes at 23:59 on July 15, 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India

A view shows the wreckage of the tail section of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from airport in Ahmedabad. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Probe focuses on engine and flaps; safety checks ordered for 787 fleet

THE INVESTIGATION into the Air India crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the aircraft's engine, flaps, and landing gear.

The Indian aviation regulator has ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing 787 fleet, reported Reuters.

Keep ReadingShow less