After repeated 'chowkidar chor hai' jibes, Narendra Modi in Madhya Pradesh says Congress, its 'naamdar' hurling abuses at him

Chhindwara: Peeved at Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s repeated “chowkidar chor hai” jibe at him on the Rafale issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the “naamdaar” (dynast) and his party were hurling all kinds of abuses at him. Modi targeted Rahul without naming him and said he did not like that the government has plugged the leaks in various welfare schemes and weeded out bogus beneficiaries. “We put a check on Rs 90,000-crore annual rip-off in fake names in welfare schemes after implementation of Aadhaar-based identification. The ‘naamdaar’ did not like this,” he said at a rally in Chinndwara, the home turf of Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath. [caption id=“attachment_4788971” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] “He (Rahul) is in pain. He is in trouble. What all is he saying? He is hurling all type of abuses from all dictionaries, (be it in) Hindi or English… at me,” the prime minister said. The Opposition party has attacked others, as well, Modi said. “Congress people are hurling abuses at chaiwalas, pakodawalas, chowkidars, the surgical strikes, army chief… what has become of their culture? he asked. “Winning and losing elections is part of the game. Why have you all lost the balance (of your mind)?” Addressing rallies in poll-bound states, Rahul has repeatedly said “chowkidar chor hai” (the watchman is a thief) — a jibe at Modi over the alleged scam in the Rafale fighter jet deal. He said that Modi had once said that he did not want to be the country’s prime minister, but its ‘chowkidar’. Modi said the “naamdar cannot do any good to his party”. He also took on the Congress chief for linking Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s son Kartikey Chouhan to the Panama Papers leak. “What all are they saying? After that they say I (Rahul) was confused,” Modi said. After Rahul’s remarks, Kartikey Chouhan filed a defamation suit against him. The Congress chief later said he took the name of the chief minister’s son out of “confusion”.