‘PayCM’ poster row in Karnataka: Congress leaders detained after protests, CM Bommai responds to allegations

The streets of Bengaluru were ridden with posters of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s face along with a QR code with the word ‘PayCM’ written on them – a campaign launched by the Congress party against the Bhartiya Janta Party government in the state.

Responding to the allegation leveled against him, CM Bommai lashed at the Congress party, calling the entire stunt “a politically motivated evil design” against him. Refuting the allegations by the Congress leaders, Bommai said that none of the claims are true.

As per news reports, the Karnataka Chief Minister said, “No allegations are true. They have given no evidence. It's all politically motivated. I've challenged them to produce proofs. During their (Congress) tenure, there were many scams that should be inquired about. QR code ('PayCM') is an evil design.”

40% - PayCM Karo!
Streets of Bengaluru right now. pic.twitter.com/1zAAgsMfcR

— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) September 21, 2022

Meanwhile, protests were launched across Bengaluru against the BJP government in the state, leading to several notable Congress leaders being detained. Leaders such as BK Hariprasad, Priyank Khadge, Randeep Singh Surjewala, and others were also detained by the authorities, as per media reports.

The PayCM QR code bearing the photograph of the Chief Minister gets directed to a website - '40% Sarkara' - accusing the Bommai-led BJP government was charging 40 percent commission on public works. The website was launched a few days ago by Congress.

After ‘PayCM’ posters that were pasted on walls in some parts of the state capital Bengaluru, Congress now released a series of ‘PayCM’ screenshots that speaks about various scams including the Cash for CM post, the infamous 40 percent commission, PSI scam, assistant professor and junior engineers recruitment scam, etc.

The PayCM posters depict payments received via an online transferring platform with the reasons behind the payments mentioned in the description box of the transaction, leveling a long list of allegations against CM Basavaraj Bommai and the BJP.

One of the posters says Rs 30 lakh was received for the ‘Junior Engineer’ post, with another saying 40 percent received with the description ‘contractors’.One more said ‘Payment failed’ for CM post with a transaction value worth Rs 2,500 crore written on it.

(With inputs from agencies)

READ | Uttarakhand: BJP leader's son arrested for murder of receptionist at his resort