With the ‘chowkidar’ slogan, Rahul Gandhi is only reminding people about the sins of his father

A controversy has erupted after he has called PM Modi a ‘chor’ (thief). While criticizing the BJP for the GST at a rally in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur, Gandhi scion plagiarized an old slogan to attack PM Modi. He said, “Gali gali me shor hai, Hindustan ka chowkidar chor hai.” (There is news making the rounds in the streets that the watchman of this country is a thief)

A similar slogan was raised in respect of Rahul Gandhi’s father- Rajiv Gandhi. After the Bofors scam in the late 80s’, opposition parties’ coined the slogan- Gali Gali me shor hai, Rajiv Gandhi chor hai – to target Rajiv Gandhi over his alleged involvement in Bofors scam. The slogan found much traction among the populace and resulted in Congress party’s loss.

This use of a derivative (‘cleverly’ adding chowkidar ) of the slogan that defeated his father tells more about Rahul Gandhi than the person he is leveling the allegations against. Rahul Gandhi’s repeated attempts to rake up fictional ‘Rafale scam’ have demonstrated that he lacks any real issues to attack PM Modi. Now it seems like he is running out of even words to target PM Modi. Nothing else could explain his raising a slogan which was used to demean his late father. It seems like Rahul Gandhi really wants to remove any shred of dignified legacy that his father has left.

His comments have invited sharp criticism from the BJP camp. The Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani lambasted Rahul Gandhi over his insensitive and irresponsible remarks. She said, “Rahul Gandhi has less regard for the position of the Prime Minister of India, let alone the person. I think that, the desperation of the ‘Clown Prince’, as Mr. Jaitley calls him, to attract attention to himself at the cost of the Prime Minster’s name is obvious to everybody.” According to a Republic world report, she further said, “One needs to ask Rahul Gandhi, ‘what is your vision for the country’? One needs to ask him, ‘what are the solutions that you gave for a country that Congress left debt-ridden?’ One needs to ask Rahul Gandhi, ‘how does he look at the NPA issue which was left behind as a challenge for the Indian economy’?”

Smriti Irani also called Gandhi scion an attention seeker and further said, “Nation building is something which Rahul Gandhi is not keen on. He is keen on taking a humiliating position against the PM, for that is a chip on the shoulder that he carries. People of the country know that Rahul Gandhi lacks vision and a desire for development, and the desperation of Rahul Gandhi to be in the news is very obvious with the atrocious statements that he has given.”

The BJP is saying that Rahul Gandhi by making nasty remarks against Prime Minister has not only disrespected PM Modi but he has also abused and disrespected all Chowkidar or guards who work dutifully and diligently unlike the Gandhi scion.