Opposition Congress on September 21, Wednesday, launched “PayCM 40% accepted here” campaign, a QR code with the face of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, on the lines of the Paytm QR code payment gateway. These posters were pasted on walls at various places in the city. As the campaign went viral, the Chief Minister hit back, calling it an effort to tarnish his and the State’s image.
“Officers concerned have been asked to file a case and identify those behind this campaign,” said the Chief Minister.
The QR code
On scanning the QR code, people were directed to “40percentsarakara.com”, a website put up by Congress over allegations of “40% commission” in contracts awarded by the State government. Karnataka State Contractors’ Association had in 2021 written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that most of the contracts awarded by the State government were being cleared only after paying a kickback of 40%.
Karnataka Congress tweeted on Wednesday the QR code, and asked people to register their complaints against corruption in the State government by scanning the QR code.
It’s a conspiracy: CM
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai hit back and said this was a conspiracy to tarnish his and the State’s reputation. He said, “Even we know how to do such baseless campaigns on social media. There is no value to such a thing. The government will make efforts to put an end to any attempts made to tarnish the image of Karnataka.”
