Case Against Rahul Gandhi Over ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ Slogan

Rahul Gandhi reportedly urged people to chant the ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ slogan at a rally the previous day.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses a public meeting in Chitrakoot.

(Photo: PTI)

A complaint was filed against Rahul Gandhi in a local court in Bihar on Saturday alleging that the Congress president's slogan 'chowkidar chor hai', which he made people chant at a rally in Samastipur district the previous day, was tantamount to sedition.

The complainant Satyavrat, a local advocate, also named RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who shared the stage with Gandhi at the rally, as a co-accused in the complaint wherein he has named a couple of news channels and the District Magistrate concerned as witnesses.

The complainant has sought registration of case under sections 124(A) and 505(1) of IPC which pertain to sedition and causing fear and alarm among public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the state.

The complaint was filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magsitrate Shailendra Kumar Sharma and will be heard on 29 April, the advocate said adding that he was deeply hurt when he watched Gandhi asking the crowd to chant the slogan.

Gandhi has been using the slogan at public meetings for quite some time to allege that financial irregularities have taken place in the Rafale deal.

The word chowkidar gained currency when Prime Minister Narendra Modi used it during the 2014 election campaign to convey that he saw himself as a watchman who guarded the country.

In response to the Congress president's jibe, the BJP has launched a 'main bhi chowkidar' campaign as part of which all senior leaders of the party and many supporters have prefixed chowkidar to their names on social media platforms.