‘Chowkidar’ did not prevent Mallya, Nirav from fleeing country: Rahul

He mocks Prime Minister’s pre-poll speeches pitching himself as the country’s ‘watchman’

Mocking at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his pre-election statement that he wished to be a ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) of the country rather than the Prime Minister, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday alleged that the ‘chowkidar’ did not do anything when Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi went abroad after looting Indian banks.

Speaking at a political rally at Mulwad village of Basavanabagewadi taluk in Vijayapura district, he said the ‘chowkidar’ was quiet when the businessmen embezzled public money. “When Jai Shah, son of BJP national president Amit Shah, made ₹80 crore in three months with an investment of ₹50,000, our chowkidar desisted from ordering an inquiry,” Mr. Gandhi said.

Questioning the claims of success of the Modi government’s Make in India and Startup India programmes, he said majority of the products being sold in India had the ‘made in China’ tag. “From garments to footwear to electronic items, everything has the ‘made in China’ tag. Then, what is the use of the scheme?” he asked.

Referring to demonetisation, Mr. Gandhi said the scheme helped thieves convert black money into white. “Mr. Modi made common people stand in long queues and deposit their money in banks. Later, that money was given to businessmen as loans,” he said.

‘Nudidante Nade’

Mr. Gandhi used social reformer Basavanna’s vachana Nudidante Nade (walk the talk) not only to allege that Mr. Modi had failed to keep his promises, but also to claim that the Congress government in the State had transformed the spirit of the vachana into reality. He referred to the vachana a dozen times in his 30-minute-long speech. “Mr. Modi promised that he would deposit ₹15 lakh in the bank account of every Indian. But he has not deposited even ₹10 in anybody’s account. Is this

Nudidante Nade? He promised 2 crore jobs every year to youths. But, failed to provide even one lakh jobs. He talks of corruption in Karnataka while sitting with former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and others who went to jail on charges of corruption. Is this Nudidante Nade?” Mr. Gandhi asked.

His response to Modi’s silence

Mr. Gandhi surprised the crowd at the rally through his style of depicting the response of Mr. Modi to his request for waiving farm loans.

Mr. Gandhi remained silent for a couple of minutes while narrating how Mr. Modi responded to his request.

The audience and Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad, who was translating his speech, were puzzled as they did not understand why Mr. Gandhi was keeping quiet. After a few seconds, people responded with a thundering applause when they realised that “silence” was Mr. Modi’s response to the demand for loan waiver.