Congress leader and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a ‘chaiwala’ tweet.
Asking voters to vote cautiously, the cricketer-turned-politician ‘warned’ that one wrong vote can make the next generation “chaiwala, pakodewala or chowkidar”.
“One wrong vote can make your children chaiwala, pakorewala or chowkidar,” Sidhu wrote in Hindi.
“Better prevent and prepare, rather then repent and repair [sic],” the Congress leader added.
एक गलत वोट आपके बच्चों को चायवाला, पकौड़ेवाला या चौकीदार बना सकता है|
Better prevent and prepare, rather then repent and repair…
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) April 29, 2019
‘Chaiwala’ (tea-seller), ‘pakorewala’ (snack-vendor) and ‘chowkidar’ (security guard) are terms that PM Modi popularised while referring to himself and his humble beginnings.
In fact the BJP has made ‘chowkidar’ its election buzzword, telling the voters that the government has kept the nation safe from external threats as well as corruption.
But the Congress, too, has used the same term to take jibes at the BJP. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly used ‘chowkidar chor hai’ (chowkidar is a thief) slogan to accuse the PM of corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal.
Sidhu, who left the BJP in 2016, had on Friday accused the Modi government of working for a few affluent people.
“Modi-ji, you are the PM of only affluent people. You are not the PM of poor citizens. You have never been seen among the poor and farmers of the country because you were always busy doing ‘chowkidari’ of the Ambanis and Adanis,” Sidhu said at a poll rally in south Mumbai.
The Congress leader has also declared that he will leave politics if Rahul Gandhi does not win from Amethi.
Read More | Will quit politics if Rahul Gandhi loses Amethi: Navjot Singh Sidhu
Gandhi is a sitting MP from Amethi but for the first time in his political career has selected a second seat to contest from – Wayanad in Kerala.
The 48-year-old Gandhi faces a tough fight from BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi.
The Punjab minister has in the past hailed Gandhi as the “man of the match and series” following Congress’ victory in the 2018 assembly elections.