'Chowkidar chor hai' slogan not coined by me or Congress: Rahul

Bhind: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said neither he nor his party coined the ‘chowkidar chor hai’ slogan, and attributed the jibe to the youth and farmers.

Addressing a poll rally here, Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal, claiming the latter ensured that a “thief”, industrialist Anil Ambani, got it.

“Mediapersons asked me today about the genesis of the chowkidar chor hai slogan. I told them that while addressing a rally in Chhattisgarh, I said the chowkidar promised two crore jobs to the youth and assured Rs 15 lakh will be deposited in bank account of each Indian. Around 10-15 young men in the rally said ‘chor hai’. I did not hear it the first time. So I asked (the young men) what did you say? They said ‘chor hai’. This slogan was not coined by the Congress, or by Rahul Gandhi but it is a slogan of the youth, farmers and labourers of India.”

Gandhi said he would prefer to die rather than make false promises to the people.

The Congress chief’s remarks came on a day he tendered an unconditional apology in the Supreme Court for wrongfully attributing to the apex court the ‘chowkidar chor hai’ remark in the Rafale verdict.

At the Bhind rally, which comes ahead of the remaining two phases of Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi also talked about the party’s Nyay minimum income guarantee scheme that envisaged giving Rs 72,000 per year to five crore poor families of the country.

“Nyay scheme will jump-start the economy,” he said.

He said the Congress, if voted to power, will ensure farmers are not jailed for failure to repay loans.

The Congress chief also assured that 22 lakh vacant government posts will be filled within a year if his party is propelled to power.