Amid the buzz of PayCM posters in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday termed the campaign as 'dirty politics', saying there has been a steep decline in the values and morality of Congress leaders.
Speaking to reporters, Bommai said if Congress wanted to raise any issue, then the party could have produced documents and then demand an inquiry.
"They come to the House without any issue and proper homework. This shows the sharp decline in the values of Congress leaders. What they were doing was nothing but tarnishing names without having any morality," said the Chief Minister.
"The Congress Party is under the illusion of coming to power without having any concern for the people but by doing dirty politics. This will not happen in Karnataka as the government will take legal action against it," added Bommai.
Asked about a pre-poll survey that predicts 95 to 100 seats for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2023 Assembly polls, the Chief Minister said surveys carry discrepancies in predictions.
"I know the pulse of people more than anybody else. I have been in politics for almost 35 years and I am confident that BJP will come back to power next year".
He said a decision regarding the Cabinet expansion will be done after getting the nod from the BJP high command.
On raids on Popular Front of India (PFI) offices and office-bearers in the State, the CM said both the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Karnataka Police have taken suitable action regarding PFI's activities in the State.
Another round of so-called 'PayCM' campaign on social media regarding various possible scams that have allegedly happened under Basvaraj Bommai's chief ministership in Karnataka has started.
The posters and the screenshots are believed to be circulated by the Congress party targetting the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state with corruption allegations.
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 per cent 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.
One of the posters says Rs 30 lakh was received for the 'Junior Engineer' post, with another saying 40 per cent received with description 'contractors'. One more said 'Payment failed' for CM post with a transaction value worth Rs 2,500 crore written on it.
Besides running a campaign against the ruling BJP, Karnataka Congress has been targetting BJP ministers who have allegedly been part of the scams. The Congress leaders and workers are showcasing the 'PayCM' QR code from their phones.
The first such PayCM campaign was first reported on Wednesday when posters featuring Basavaraj Bommai's photograph surfaced in Bengaluru.
The posters had a QR code with Bommai's photograph in the middle with the message "40 per cent accepted here".
The QR code would take people to the "40 per cent Commission Government" website recently launched by Congress to file complaints against the Chief Minister.
On this campaign by the Congress, Bommai earlier this week termed it as a conspiracy to tarnish his as well as Karnataka's reputation.
Speaking to reporters, Bommai had said: "This is a systematic campaign not only to tarnish the State's image but also of my image. Instructions have been given to the authorities concerned to immediately book a case. The government will make efforts to put an end to any attempts made to tarnish the image of Karnataka".
( With inputs from ANI )
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