"Chaiwala, Chowkidar...": Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's Con-Artist Alert

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was unsparing in his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday as he issued a sarcastic public service announcement referencing the many monikers that the PM has used to describe himself in the run-up to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

"Chaiwala (tea-seller) in Gujarat, Ganga ma ka beta (son of Mother Ganges) in Uttar Pradesh, Sahu in Chhattisgarh and Chowkidar (watchman) at Ambanis. Friends, please beware of a con-artist. A moment of carelessness can cause five years of crisis. Awareness is the only the only way to stay safe," Mr Baghel tweeted in Hindi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had extensively billed his humble origins as a tea-seller ahead of the 2014 polls, has campaigned hard this time by calling himself a "Chowkidar" or watchman who is unrelenting in his crusade against corruption. The Congress led by chief Rahul Gandhi, however, has taken this claim head on by accusing him of massive corruption in a deal involving French-made Rafale fighter jets.

The Prime Minister has also called himself a son of the holy river Ganges, revered as a mother in Hinduism, and today while campaigning in Chhattisgarh, deflected Mr Gandhi's charge of corruption by linking his Modi surname to the Sahu community of the state.

"Should such language be used? We have to throw out such people. Abusive language has become the norm. The Sahu community here would have been called Modi in Gujarat. Are they all thieves?" PM Modi said at rally in Korba.

Campaigning for the elections, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had said, "Why do all the thieves have Modi in their names? Whether be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi and Narendra Modi. We don't know how many more such Modis will come out," Mr Gandhi had said, attacking the PM.