Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Thursday that Congress’s dirty politics has been exposed by the PhonePe posters controversy. Reacting to the PhonePe posters put up near Gwalior railway station, Mishra said the Congress is trying to divert the public's attention with such gimmicks to hide its own corruption.
The PhonePe poster row started when the posters, featuring the MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and a QR code, came up in Gwalior. The message on the posters read “50% Lao, Kam Karao [bring 50% and get the work done]. It also featured the image of the popular online payments app, PhonePe. The posters were a reminder of the Congress's PayCM campaign in Karnataka, wherein it alleged that to get any work done in the state, the CM [from BJP] must be paid a 40% commission. The anti-corruption campaign, along with other issues, led to a Congress victory in Karnataka.
Narottam Mishra said that there is CCTV footage of the person who did this and that he had all the visuals. “The dirty politics of Congress has come to the fore. There's nothing more to say after the PhonePe tweet. The public knows that you are blaming others to hide your corruption," he said. Mishra was referring to PhonePe's clarification: "PhonePe objects to the unauthorized usage of its brand logo, by any third party, be it political or non-political. We are not associated with any political campaign or party. The PhonePe logo is a registered trademark of our company and any unauthorized use of PhonePe’s intellectual property rights will invite legal action. We humbly request @INCMP to remove the posters and banners featuring our brand logo and colour."
Mishra further said: “An FIR has been registered in Burhanpur, Chhindwara, and action will be taken.”
Reacting to the Congress's allegations of the BJP putting up objectionable posters against its leaders, Mishra sought proof. Earlier, the Congress party asserted that the campaign was a reaction of common people after the BJP started a "poster war" leading up to the upcoming Assembly polls, scheduled by the end of the year. Previously, objectionable posters featuring Madhya Pradesh Congress President Kamal Nath had surfaced in the state capital, Bhopal.