New Delhi (Sputnik): The publicity war on social media turf for the upcoming general elections seems to be going the governing Bharatiya Janata Party's way as the campaign "MainBhiChowkidar" (I too am a watchman) launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supporters has been top trending on various social media platforms, according to media reports.
The "MainBhiChowkidar" campaign has trumped the opposition's "ChowkidarChorHai" (watchman is a thief) social media jibe in excess of nine is to one ratio. Modi's opponents had thrown allegations of corruption and crony capitalism against him calling him a "thief".
In 2014, Modi campaigned against the then incumbent government, depicting himself as the "watchman" (chowkidar in Hindi) of the nation. In a build-up to the upcoming national elections, the opposition, led by the Congress Party, sought to portray him as a watchman-turned-thief (Chowkidar Chor Hai), alleging corruption in the multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal.
The campaign "MainBhiChowkidar" commenced on Saturday after Modi posted a tweet asking all Indians to be "watchmen" against corruption and other social malaise plaguing the nation. He subsequently prefixed his name with the word "Chowkidar". His fans and supporters followed suit and put "Chowkidar" before their names on social media.
According to media reports, the hashtag #MainBhiChowkidar has been the top trending hashtag on Twitter receiving around 1.5 million mentions. In comparison, the opposition's hashtag #ChowkidarChorHai has accrued mere 163,000 mentions which is a paltry 10 percent of Modi's campaign.