Guwahati: Northeast has followed in the footsteps of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trending campaign #MainBhiChowkidar, with leaders as well as the public ‘changing’ their names on Twitter.
With many hailing it a masterstroke before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Modi’s stance of calling himself a chowkidar (security guard) of the country fighting against corruption, dirt and social evils, and playing a tune similar to that of demonetisation, seems to have cast a magic on the masses.
Your Chowkidar is standing firm & serving the nation.
But, I am not alone.
Everyone who is fighting corruption, dirt, social evils is a Chowkidar.
Everyone working hard for the progress of India is a Chowkidar.
Today, every Indian is saying-#MainBhiChowkidar
— Chowkidar Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 16, 2019
Moments after PM Modi launched the BJP’s ‘#MainBhiChowkidar’ campaign on Twitter on Saturday morning, it became a top worldwide trend on the micro-blogging site.
The tweet, in no time, garnered more than 25,000 retweets and 75,000 likes.
Soon thereafter, senior leaders from across the nation including the Northeast started putting the ‘Chowkidar’ prefix to their names. Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu, North East Democratic Alliance convenor and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Assam minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, among others, were some of the leaders who showed their support to PM Modi on Twitter on his quest to win Lok Sabha 2019.
The general public, too, came out with their own initiatives, some of which caught Twitterati’s attention. This one is from Nalbari in Assam:
@NorthEast4Modi
Hum Bhi Chowkudar Hain.
From Nalbari District.(Assam) pic.twitter.com/d19FV9GwOf— Prakash (@Prakash36828552) March 17, 2019
Not surprisingly, opposition Congress leaders took a jibe at PM Modi’s initiative. Assam MP Gaurav Gogoi retweeted party president Rahul Gandhi’s tweet targeting PM Modi. Gandhi had tweeted: “Defensive tweet Mr Modi! You feeling a little guilty today?” with an image of the PM with Anil Ambani, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya, among others, referring to the Rafale scam and money-laundering cases, respectively, that allegedly happened during Modi’s rule.
Defensive tweet Mr Modi!
You feeling a little guilty today? pic.twitter.com/ztVGRlc599
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 16, 2019
Likewise, Sushmita Dev, MP from Silchar in Assam and president of the All India Mahila Congress, questioned the trending hashtag by grilling former BJP minister MJ Akbar’s tweet calling himself a chowkidar too:
एम.जे.अकबर भी चौकीदार है! फिर तो पढ़ चुकीं बेटियाँ, बच चुकीं बेटियाँ#ChowkidarChorHai https://t.co/4d8kwvKttI
— All India Mahila Congress (@MahilaCongress) March 18, 2019
Along with the hashtag campaign which started on Saturday, PM Modi also announced that he would hold a #MainBhiChowkidar programme on March 31, days before the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
