PM Modi’s #MainBhiChowkidar Video Kick-Starts 2019 Lok Sabha Elections Campaign; Becomes Twitter’s Top Worldwide Trend

As part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign before the general elections this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a video on twitter with the hashtag ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ (I am also a watchman).

The video showcases a song with lyrics outlining the PM Modi-led government's initiatives and ends with an appeal to join PM Modi's "Main Bhi Chowkidar" programme on 31 March. You can watch the video here.

In his tweet, the prime minister refers to every Indian fighting corruption and social evils as a ‘chowkidar’ (watchman). He said that all those working hard for the country’s progress are chowkidars.

After Modi released the video, #MainBhiChowkidar became Twitter's top worldwide trend today with close to 30,000 retweets and around 80,000 likes.

The term chowkidar has been the subject of much controversy between the ruling BJP-led NDA government and the opposition parties, with the former using it to describe Modi as a watchman protecting the interests of the country and the people, while the latter attack the prime minister as a protector of corporate interests.

The Lok Sabha polls are slated to occur in seven phases between 11 April to 19 May.