As the “Chai pe Charcha” and “Abki Baar Modi Sarkar” struck a chord with the voters in 2014, the BJP, five years down the line, is now trying to enlarge and intensify its “Main Bhi Chowkidar” campaign in the run-up to the tough Lok Sabha polls with Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacting with people who have pledged their support to the campaign on March 31, from 500 places across the country.
More so, since it is buoyed by the massive response to the “Main Bhi Chowkidar” campaign launched by the Prime Minister on March 16. Senior BJP leader and Union Law Minister Ravishakar Prasad Minister said the campaign has become a “people’s movement” as the “Main Bhi Chowkidar” hashtag has been tweeted 20 lakh times and had 1,680 crore impressions.
Prior to the mega show, taking the social media connect to the next level, the PM will also address 25 lakh “chowkidars” on March 20 on the eve of Holi.
The BJP has sensed that the “Main Bhi Chowkidar” campaign could be a winning proposition in the multiple cross-firings of slogans and catchy shouts of electioneering from a range of political parties.
The campaign is in a way aimed at deflating Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s riposte “Chowkidar chor hai” as also to appropriate and include one and all in its gamut and render it an egalitarian colour.
Prasad, who addressed a Press conference here, said Modi would be stationed outside Delhi while speaking with people from 500 destinations.
Replying to a question if the campaign was a counter to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s “Chowkidar chor hai” barb, he rejected the suggestion and asserted that Modi in his campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls had projected himself as the “first servant” and “chowkidar” of the country.
On Saturday, Modi had urged his supporters to take the chowkidar pledge, saying he is not alone in the fight against graft and social evils.
Following his appeal, all BJP leaders, including party chief Amit Shah and Union Ministers, prefixed the word “chowkidar” to their names in their Twitter profile as they sought people’s support in the Lok Sabha elections.
Social media is abuzz with witty take-offs on the campaign. In one instance people posted photographs of economic offenders and absconders — Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi — with a caption “Main Bhi Chowkidar”.
Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh also took a dig.
Leading the Opposition attack, Mayawati said on Twitter, “After BJP launched ‘Mai Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign, PM Modi and others added the prefix ‘chowkidar’ to their Twitter handles. So now Narendra Modi is Chowkidar and no more ‘chaiwala’ which he was at the time of last Lok Sabha election. What a change India is witnessing under the BJP rule. Bravo!” Incidentally, Mayawati has only recently joined the twitter fraternity after shunning it for long.
Her ally Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted in Hindi, “Is there any chowkidar to check the theft of fertiliser?” In another tweet, Yadav appeared to be referring to the controversial Rafale jet deal. “Has the chowkidar responsible for the theft of file from the Ministry been punished,” he asked.
On Monday, Congress’ incharge of eastern Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “Unki (the Prime Minister) marzi apne naam ke aage kya lagaen. Mujhe ek kisan bhai ne kaha ki ‘dekhiye chowkidar toh ameeron ke hotey hain, hum kisan toh apney khud chowkidar hotey hain” (I met a group of farmers...Potato farmers of western UP. One of them told me, chowkidar is for the rich. We farmers are our own chowkidar).
