Rahul comes up with new slogan to corner PM Modi

Jaipur, Sep 20: In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, during his rally in Dungarpur, Rajasthan, coined a new slogan 'Gali gali me shor hai, Hindustan ka chowkidar chor hai' (There is noise in the streets, India's watchman is a thief).

The literal translation of Rahul's new slogan does not say much, but in a way the Congress president has called the Prime Minister a thief. Modi has called himself as nation's 'chowkidar' (Watchman) many times. So, by calling India's watchman a thief, Rahul is trying to say PM Modi is thief.

This also must be understood in the context of the narrative that the Congress is trying build ahead of 2019 elections. The Congress is leaving no stone unturned to corner the ruling government over the Rafale fighter jet deal and Vijay Mallya's escape from the country.

Rahul has been questioning PM's silence after Mallya last week claimed that he had met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before leaving the country.

"But prime minister is on mute mode and not speaking a word on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who enabled Vijay Mallya to leave the country," Rahul said in the rally today.

"Jaitley met Mallya in Parliament, it is what Jaitley himself confessed, I am not saying this...Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, different slabs of GST, farmers' crop loan waiver scheme issues and Rafale scam are some of the glaring corruption cases on which nation's chowikdar is just not caring..Echoes are coming from everywhere. Now public in Rajasthan too is sloganeering: Gali gali mein shor hai, desh ka chowkidar chor hai," he said.

Interestingly, a similar slogan, Gali Gali me shor hai Rajiv Gandhi chor hai, was coined by the opposition parties against Rahul Gandhi's father, Rajiv Gandhi, after the Bofors scam in the late 80s'.