Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday told India’s security guards that he was sorry to them and sought their forgiveness for using chowkidar chor hai jibe.
Speaking at an event organised by his party’s minority cell in Delhi, Gandhi said, “Security guards in the country are slightly upset with me. They say ‘you’ve defamed us (by saying chowkidar chor hai).’ But, I want to seek forgiveness from them. I didn’t defame you. You guys are doing a fantastic job. I am only talking about only one security guard, who is a thief.”
Gandhi coined the term chowkidar chor hai for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his alleged involvement in the Rafale deal, accusing him of helping his businessman friend Anil Ambani with Rs 30,000 crore.
Since Gandhi first used the term, chowkidar chor hai has caught the imagination of people across India. Not so long ago, a video of a qawwal (devotional singer) performing a live music on chowkidar chor hai had gone viral on social media platforms.
Security guards in the country are slightly upset with me. They say ‘you’ve defamed us (by saying chowkidar chor hai).’ But, I want to seek forgiveness from them. I didn’t defame you. You guys are doing a fantastic job. I am only talking about only one security guard, who is a thief.
Gandhi also said that his party will be able to defeat the BJP and the Congress in this year’s Lok Sabha elections. He said that Modi had coined the term Achche din aayenge, which has now been replaced by chowkidar chor hai.
He said, “This has become a fashion and we ought to do it properly. See, earlier BJP people used to shout ‘achche din’ and the audience used to chant aayenge. Now, it’s not someone from the Congress partgy, but if you travel to any corner of Delhi or Maharashtra, when people shout chowkidar…” No sooner had he finished pronouncing Chowkidar, the audience at the Congress party’s minority cell meeting shouted in chorus chor hai. Gandhi repeated the same for several times before moving on with his speech.
LIVE: CP @RahulGandhi addresses the national convention of AICC Minority Department. #MeraSamvidhaanMeraSwabhiman https://t.co/3uKLpHmRLH
— Congress (@INCIndia) February 7, 2019