Rahul mocks PM Modi's 'chowkidar' campaign

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Main Bhi Chowkidar" campaign, calling him a gatekeeper who stood guard for the wealth of the rich.

Modi and his partymen have launched the 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' (I too am a watchman) campaign to blunt the Opposition's, especially the Congress's, 'chowkidar chor hai (watchman is a thief) slogan.

"What type of people employ chowkidars outside their homes? Have you seen a chowkidar deployed at the gates of a common man's house?" Gandhi asked the gathering here.

Addressing his maiden rally in Bihar upon the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi said Modi treated and addressed Anil Ambani, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi "and others like them as bhai" while "he calls common people like you as only mitron (friends)".

"He made promises of Rs 15 lakh into the accounts of all the poor, two crore jobs in five years and waiver of loans to the farmers. Did he ever tell you why he failed to deliver on these? Has he done anything for the benefit of farmers, workers and the youth?" Gandhi asked.

"The Congress, on the other hand, promised loan waiver for farmers and did so within a fortnight of its governments being formed in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan," he claimed.

He also said if the Congress-led alliance came to power in the state, "it will draw a minimum income line and a sum of money will be automatically deposited into the accounts of those who were below this line".

Referring to demonetisation, the Congress president said if its stated purpose was eradication of black money, why were the common people made to undergo such great difficulties.

"Why the savings of women made over the years for difficult times were taken away from them in the name of demonetisation? If this government can waive loans worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore of the rich, why can he not provide much-needed relief to farmers?" Gandhi asked.