New Delhi: The prime minister was at his aggressive best, while he was addressing 25 lakh watchmen from across the country, a day before Holi. He took BJP's campaign of mai bhi Chowkidar (I am also a watchman), a step further on Wednesday by apologising to all watchmen on behalf of Congress who ran a political campaign by the name of 'Chowkidar chor hai' (the watchman himself is the thief) to target PM Modi.

While the Prime Minister took questions from few watchmen throughout the audio conference, he said, "Watchmen work round the clock and you are among those who fight for our security. I want to apologise to all of you on behalf of those who abuse you taking from my campaign. They have stooped to this level where they keep saying, "Chowkidar Chor Hai", but we have decided to build our courage to ensure that we partake in ensuring security." Though the PM didn't mention Congress, the reference was apparent. Congress launched this campaign to corner BJP and PM Modi on the Rafale deal. 

This was one step ahead of BJP's 'mai bhi Chowkidar' campaign to counter the narrative of Congress. Ever since the PM changed his twitter name to 'Chowkidar Narendra Modi', all the BJP leaders added the word 'Chowkidar' before their names on social media. Observers believe this is an old trick that Modi has employed to embarrass his political opponents time and again when he was the Gujarat chief minister as well. When Sonia Gandhi called the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi 'Maut Ka Saudagar' he equated himself with 1.35 crore Gujaratis and counter alleged, it was defamation of each and every Gujarati. 

During the address, PM Modi also mentioned about the valour of the Indian security forces. He said, "All our countrymen should be proud of our army, appreciate their efforts in risking their lives to carry out retaliating attacks and how they settled the accounts for every martyr who lost their life. While every Indian is proud of the retaliation, the reaction and attitude of the opposition parties has left everyone shocked and saddened ".

Taking the ongoing ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign even further, Modi is scheduled to interact with those who have pledged support to it through the medium of video conferencing on March 31.