After elections, chowkidar will go to jail: Rahul Gandhi

Speaking at a rally for the Congress’s Nagpur and Ramtek nominees, Nana Patole and Kishor Gajbhiye respectively, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Narendra Modi government of corruption, and said that the country’s “chowkidar” would be in jail after elections.

The Congress president emphasised that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ‘achhe din ayenge’ slogan five years ago has now turned into ‘chowkidar chor hai’.

“My eyes are fixed on this goal like Arjun had fixed his aim at the fish (in Mahabharata). I will not tell you a lie like depositing Rs 15 lakh in your accounts because falsehood doesn’t last beyond 2-3 months. I wish to work with you for 15-20 years,” said Gandhi as he talked about his promise of providing Rs 72,000 per year to 20 crore poor families in the country.

“Mazdur ke ghar ke samne kabhi chowkidar ko aapne dekha? Nahi. Anil Ambani ke ghar ke samne kitne chowkidar hain? Hazaron chowkidar hain Anil Ambani ke paas… Jo apne sang chori kiya hai, uski chowkidari karne ke liye… Pehle ‘achhe din ayenge’ janta dekhti reh gayi… Paanch saal baad dekha nara badal gaya ‘chowkidar chor hai’… Aur chhoti chori nahi ki… Main aapko bata raha hoon, chunav ke baad enquiry hogi… Jail mein chowkidar hoga…”

“(Have you ever seen a watchmen outside the houses of a peasant? No. How many watchmen would you find outside Anil Ambani’s house? Thousands. Who looted us, there are watchmen for that person. The people of our country kept waiting for better days, but today people are calling the watchman a thief. And it isn’t a small theft. Take my word, after the elections, there will be an enquiry. After that, the ‘watchman’ will be in jail),” Gandhi said to an audience that raised slogans of ‘chowkidar chor hai’, news agency ANI reported.

In response to BJP’s accusation of Congress and it’s bluff, Gandhi said, “they ask where the money will come from. They don’t ask this question when it comes to giving land to Patanjali in Nagpur MIHAN project and while giving Rafale offset contracts to Anil Ambani, who had no money and competence to handle the project. I will tell you where the money will come from. It will come from the coffers of the likes of Ambani, Choksi and Nirav Modi.”

Pointing out BJP’s favouritism towards businessmen like Anil Ambani, Vijay Mallya, Gautam Adani, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, he said, “They ran away with lakhs of crores and Modi refers to them as Bhai. Modi says make me chowkidar, not PM.”

“The Modi government purchased Rafale jets priced at Rs 550 crore each at Rs 1,600 crore. Modi directly dealt with the French government and then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had no idea about it. This had been mentioned in documents of Defence Ministry and Parrikar had also said it in so many words,” said Gandhi, further adding that, “Parrikar knew some fraud had taken place in the deal.”

Gandhi further reiterated his challenge to PM Modi to take part in a 15-minute open debate on corruption, economy and national security with him.

“He (Modi) will not be able to show his face to you since he knows he can’t answer questions. This is the reality,” Gandhi said.