Congress pushes to make 'corruption' a key political narrative in poll-bound Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): In poll-bound Karnataka, the Congress has mounted an aggressive pitch with the 'PayCM' QR code campaign seeking to put the ruling BJP on the mat as it pushes to make corruption a central theme of the state's political narrative.
The campaign targeting Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has rattled the BJP which is preparing to launch a similar offensive against the Congress.
Bommai has termed the campaign as 'dirty politics' of the Congress in Karnataka, where Assembly elections are due in about seven months.
"The Congress is under illusion that it can come to power through its dirty politics of misleading people. This will never be possible in Karnataka," the Chief Minister said.
According to a BJP insider, the party is planning a QR code campaign of vast scale to counter the Congress and expose its "wrongdoings in the past".
The BJP was taken by surprise as the Congress-sponsored 'PayCM' posters dotted many public walls in prime areas of the city last week.
Resembling payment platform Paytm's advertisements, the poster had the Chief Minister's image in the middle of a QR code. Upon scanning, the QR code redirects one to a portal https://40percentsarkara.com/#/home.
The Congress claims there were various scams, and contractors have to shell out 40 per cent commission (bribe) to secure public contracts.
The Congress portal also provides 'bribe rate card' alleging various percentage of commission in public works such as 75 per cent in COVID-19 supplies, 40 per cent in PWD and other civil contracts and 30 per cent in egg supply.
It also alleged that one has to pay bribe ranging from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 16 crore to get a plum posting or a government job.
The portal carries some statements including one by Nagaraju from Kolar who is quoted as saying that he was asked to pay a bribe of Rs 15,000 to the sub-registrar for the registration of a plot (site) but when he refused, the registration got delayed.
A realtor Shivanna (name changed) from Bengaluru wondered whether paying bribe to the sub-registrar started only in recent times.
"Paying bribe to sub-registrars has been there for ages. It has been institutionalised and no government ever made efforts to stop it, be it Congress, BJP or the JD(S)," he said.
The portal has videos too which are the clippings of the reports that appeared in various news channels.
Stung by the Congress campaign, the BJP launched a counter-offensive.
It started 'Scam Ramaiah' campaign highlighting various "scams" that took place during the Congress regime led by Siddaramaiah from 2013 to 2018.
It also released a booklet, targeting Siddaramaiah (now Leader of Opposition in Assembly), saying that he ran a '100 per cent loot Congress government'.
The booklet has the clippings of newspaper reports on "scams" that had taken place when Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister.
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
