'PayCM' Posters With Basavaraj Bommai's Face Put Up Across Bangalore, CM Lashes Out At Corruption Allegations

In the midst of a full-fledged campaign led by the Congress Party against the state government, posters alleging corruption by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai surfaced in parts of Bengaluru on September 21.

The posters captioned "PayCM" showed the Chief Minister's face in the middle of a QR code designed similar to the electronic wallet, Paytm. Under the image, a text read, "40% accepted here", referring to the allegations of 40 per cent commission collected as bribes by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

The posters, which had come to the notice of the authorities, were taken down immediately. Responding to the same, Bommai spoke to several media houses and slammed Congress's attempts at the smear campaign.

Police remove posters targeting Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai with his face on a QR code titled 'PayCM' have been spotted at CV Raman Road near Mekhri Circle and in a few other places in Bengaluru. | @PTI_News pic.twitter.com/Cf9kESMqeM

— Shailendra Bhojak (@muna2906) September 21, 2022

Public Interest Or Vote Bank Politics?

The Karnataka Contractors Association, in a letter sent across to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2021, had accused the ruling government of collecting 40 per cent commission from contractors to provide them with public works contracts. They said that Karnataka's BJP government had raised their demand for bribes from 10 per cent to 40 per cent after having come to rule.

While the charges were denied by the government, the Congress party picked on the opportunity and made the ruling party's corrupt practices a central plank in their campaign. Ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections of May 2023, the opposition Congress launched a series of campaigns under the banner "40% Sarkara, BJP means Brashtachara", targeting these allegations.

Earlier in the week, the opposition also launched a helpline for the citizens to call up and register corruption complaints against the state government with evidence. State Congress chief D K Shivakumar, who is also under the scrutiny of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for corruption charges, said that information received from the helplines would be presented to respective departments and agencies to initiate investigations.

Adding on to the allegations, Shivakumar stated that "Bengaluru, which was once called the silicon city, garden city, pensioner's paradise, is now being termed as the corruption capital of India because of the BJP government." Apart from the Chief Minister, names of several other ministers, including health minister K Sudhakar, higher education and IT/BT minister C N Ashwath Narayan, have also been dragged in connection to multiple scams.

Against the backdrop of all these events, the posters reading "40% accepted here" had come about in Bangalore's streets, taking a jab at the 40 per cent commission accusations alleged by the contractor's body. A few anonymous sources from the Congress Party reported to the Indian Express that some party workers might have been behind the "poster campaign".

Chief Minister's Response

Chief Minister Bommai dismissed the Congress' allegations as a smear campaign and has ordered an investigation to book those involved in this act. Calling the Congress' corruption charges baseless, Bommai said that the campaign is a bid to tarnish the image of Karnataka and its honourable Chief Minister.

BJP's national general secretary C T Ravi also responded to the campaign and blamed the Congress for creating a "toolkit" that is not backed by evidence. It was further taken ahead by the BJP state media cell in charge, Karunakara Khasle, who challenged the Congress members to prove the corruption allegations. He also said that in the face of failure to do so, the party is liable to apologise to the ruling government.

Also Read: Over 13,000 Schools Accuse Karnataka Government Of Corruption, Writes Letter To PM Modi