#MainBhiChowkidar: Hashtag heft
1 min read . Updated: 19 Mar 2019, 05:14 AM ISTWhile hashtag wars over chowkidari lend this election season some excitement, they also reduce politics to a silly game of tweets
True to form, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken Twitter by storm with his #MainBhiChowkidar campaign.
It has got an overwhelming response, with BJP supporters readily affixing chowkidar (or watchman) to their names, an apparent retort to the #ChowkidarChorHai charge of the Congress. Modi had called himself a watchman during his 2014 run for leadership. Back then, he presented himself as a guard against corruption. This time, he has apparently widened that role to keep a watch on national security as well.
Indeed, security is one of the vital mandates of any government. While hashtag wars over chowkidari lend this election season some excitement, they also reduce politics to a silly game of tweets. They do a disfavour to an electorate that has various other kinds of security to worry about. There is social security, which would include the common need of an assured livelihood. There is also the issue of women’s safety, on which little has been heard.
Try as they might to set the electoral agenda, tweets flying back and forth cannot capture the complexity of this country. Not even on a matter as simple as the need to feel secure.