Mayawati ridicules BJP's 'mein bhi Chowkidaar' campaign

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Friday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders over 'mein bhi Chowkidaar' campaign and accused the Centre of hiding unemployment, poverty data ahead of ensuing polls.

Speaking to ANI, Mayawati said, "The Prime Minister is okay if the file on Rafale deal is lost, he is okay if the actual figures of unemployment, poverty, conditions of Dalits come out in public domain. Does nation want this kind of Chowkidar (watchman). PM Narendra Modi added Chowkidaar in front of his name after which a number of other BJP leaders and party supporters followed the suit."

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati also said that after the launch of 'Main Bhi Chowkidaar' campaign, state officials are in a dilemma whether to add 'Chowkidaar' in front of their names or not.

"In whole Uttar Pradesh, officials including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are in a dilemma whether to add Chowkidaar in front of their names or not. BJP can do whatever fashion they want to do it but they should work as a custodian of the Constitution. This is the only thing that people want from them," she said.

Recently, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to add "chowkidar" (watchman) to his Twitter handle.

"It is their (BJP) choice what they want to add to their name. When I met potato farmers in western Uttar Pradesh, one of them told me, the rich have chowkidar, the farmers are their own chowkidar", she said while speaking to ANI in Prayagraj a few days ago.