Accusing Shivraj Chouhan of graft, posters surface in several MP cities

In a flashback to the Karnataka state poll campaign, here in Madhya Pradesh, posters feature a QR code and a picture of Chouhan with the message “50% Lao, Kam Karao” (bring 50 per cent and get the work done) along with leading online payment app PhonePe. Reported by PTI and Deccan Herald, this was followed by a tweet from the official Twitter handle of the state Congress. The tweet said the CM’s pictures were spotted in Indore’s Nanda Nagar, the home ground of rabblerouser and BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.

“Posters of Shivraj’s corruption pasted in BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya’s home turf. Bring 50%, get the work done on the phone. The people of Madhya Pradesh know and recognise those who take 50% commission,” the Congress said in a tweet. The main Opposition party in the state also shared a video showing similar posters outside a park named after Chouhan’s son Kartikeya in Budhni town.

“There was a 40% government in Karnataka. Shivraj defeated the BJP government of Karnataka in matter of corruption,” said the Congress while sharing pictures showing the posters in Bhopal. Asked about the CM’s posters, state Congress president Kamal Nath told reporters in Bhopal that this campaign was started first by the BJP. On June 23, the posters of Chouhan and Nath containing corruption charges had also come up in the state capital.

The Congress leader’s posters had surfaced in the Shahpura area of Bhopal dubbing him as “corrupt Nath”, listing him as “wanted”, and linking him to a number of “scams”. These posters also featured a QR code with the message “Scam se bachne ke liye scan kare” (scan to prevent scams).

On the same day, two posters with Chouhan’s pictures and captioned, “Not Shivraj, But Scam Rule” and “Shivraj’s 18 years of rampant scams and frauds” with a mention of the Vyapam scam — an admission and recruitment racket — came up alongside a busy link road just a stone’s throw away from the state Congress office. State BJP spokesman Narendra Saluja termed the poster campaign as the “dirty politics” of the Congress.

Meanwhile, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the Congress had put up these posters, a charge denied by the Opposition party which said “people” aggrieved with corruption had pasted them as the two national outfits traded charges ahead of the year-end Assembly polls. The PM is scheduled to visit Bhopal on Tuesday.

The Madhya Pradesh (MP) Congress, on its Twitter handle, shared videos of these posters that emerged in Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Sehore, Rewa, Mandsaur, Ujjain, Bhind, Balaghat, Budhni and some other cities. Of these, Budhni is the Assembly seat represented by Chouhan.

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