The eponymous epithet “chowkidar” that stuck to Prime Minister Narendra Modi throughout the poll campaign will now remain present in spirit only. The Prime Minister on Thursday dropped the prefix “chowkidar”, or watchman, from his Twitter profile even before the final results were declared, although the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance seems all set for a landslide victory.
Modi said that though the word chowkidar will no longer be a part of his Twitter handle, it will remain “an integral part” of him. “Thank you India. The faith placed in our alliance is humbling and gives us strength to work even harder to fulfill people’s aspirations,” he wrote on his Twitter handle.
Now, the time has come to take the Chowkidar Spirit to the next level.
Keep this spirit alive at every moment and continue working for India’s progress.
The word ‘Chowkidar’ goes from my Twitter name but it remains an integral part of me. Urging you all to do the same too!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 23, 2019
Lauding his party workers, he said, “I salute every BJP karyakarta for their determination, perseverance [and] hard work. They went home to home, elaborating on our development agenda.” The people of India have now become chowkidars and “rendered great service to the nation”, he added.
The “chowkidar” story goes back to the 2014 elections when Modi had urged voters to make him the country’s watchman to safeguard their interests. The word was hurled back at him in the recent past by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who taunted him saying “chowkidar chor hai” in the context of the Rafale deal.
Prime Minister Modi fielded the abuse hurled at him and used it to his advantage adding it as a prefix to his name.
On Thursday, however, Modi decided to drop the prefix saying, “Chowkidar has become a powerful symbol to safeguard India from the evils of casteism, communalism, corruption and cronyism. Now, the time has come to take the chowkidar spirit to the next level. Keep this spirit alive at every moment and continue working for India’s progress.”
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