EC stopped me from saying 'Chowkidar': Rahul

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday took on the Election Commission for stopping him from using the word "Chowkidar" and said now even the Prime Minister hesitates to say this word.

Addressing a public gathering in Rewa parliamentary constituency, Gandhi said: "Whenever you speak 'Chowkidar', people respond by 'chor hai'. Now, the EC is saying that you cannot use the word 'Chowkidar'. But whenever I say 'Chowkidar' people say 'chor hai', then what is my fault in it."

"Nowadays, even Prime Minister Narendra Modi hesitates to speak 'Chowkidar'. He thinks that if he would say 'Chowkidar' then its possible that BJP's people would say 'chor hai'," Gandhi said in tongue-in-cheek style.

Gandhi added: "Country's people were expecting that Modiji would guard farmers, labourers and small businessmen but he became a 'Chowkidar' for Adani, Ambani, Mehul Chowksi and Nirav Modi. Then the people felt that 'Chowkidar chor hai' (the security guard is thief)".

He also mentioned the problems that people faced due to the GST and demonetisation.

"Around 12,000 small industries had to face shut down due to demonetisation and gabbar singh tax (GST). This happened because Prime Minister Narendra Modi picked up money from your pockets," the Congress President said, adding that before this the economy was running smoothly, shops had business, industries had work. But when Modi came to power, he picked money from people's pockets and gave it to industrialists.

"To justify the demonetisation he had said that it was a fight against black money and corruption, and forced you to stand in queues, thereafter, he gave Rs 35,000 crore to Nirav Modi, Rs 10,000 crore to Vijay Mallya," said Gandhi.

The Congress President further said: "As people lost all the money during the note-ban, they were unable to buy raw material that resulted in the shut down of factories and shops. Thereafter, youth were sacked from their jobs."

"Today, around 27,000 youths are losing their jobs every 24 hours," he said.

He said: "No vehicle can be started without petrol, diesel. By implementing the GST and demonetisation Modi had withdrawn fuel from country's engine. Now, NYAY will be the first step to restart India's economy. Besides the poor, traders, youth and farmers will also receive benefits through this scheme."

--IANS

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