Of Chowkidar, chor and all that

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest anti-corruption vigilance campaign made the word “Chowkidar” a global Twitter trend. Pushed to counter the gathering shouts like “Chowkidar chor hi”, the BJP leader’s team then came up with this “Main Bhi Chowkidar” campaign.

Some thought “the campaign is a brilliant way to take on his main detractor while others fretted that this is a distraction from the real issues surrounding the election. However, Rahul Gandhi’s constant refrain of “Rafale, Rafale” and “Chor, chor” was bound to have a reaction much as Mani Shankar Iyer’s “Chaiwala” jibe became a handle for Modi’s trail-blazing poll campaign in 2014.

The metaphorical shout for guarding against corruption might have been interpreted to be an effective counterpunch, but it is only “fatuousness” says famous PM critic Shashi Tharoor. Delhi CM Kejriwal, who came to power on an anticorruption plank, believes this may lead to people becoming watchmen rather than aspiring for greater things.

The “Chowkidar” taunts and ripostes have elicited some humour in bristling poll campaigns in which the invective has been far more regularly flung than humour. Priyanka Gandhi, in her second innings as a regular campaign trail politico came up with the thought that chowkidars are hired by the rich to protect their property and belongings while farmers could not afford such a luxury.

What the high decibel “Main Bhi Chowkidar” has done is to draw A-lister politicos into the arguments, which just goes to show that it does take something unusual to wake up otherwise staid election campaigns.