BJP’s stock reaction to Congress’s allegations is to counter
BJP’s stock reaction to Congress’s allegations is to counter
Cof ogres ‘PayCM’ campaign There was a big issue of discussion in Karnataka last month The posters of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s picture resemble the QR code of Paytm Pasted on city walls. As the campaign aimed at highlighting allegations of corruption against the BJP government, also gained traction online, the Karnataka unit of the BJP released a counter-poster and a 28-page booklet targeting Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah. The poster contained a caricature of the former chief minister with 16 arms, each depicting an alleged scam during the Congress rule (2013-2018). In parallel, Karnataka’s legislature session ended amid vociferous protests by the Congress over being denied time to debate the charge of “40% commission”, which was first raised by the Karnataka Contractors Association with the Prime Minister’s Office, Bureaucrats and people’s representatives were accused of fixing. Exorbitant rates for award of tenders and clearing of bills”.
The state BJP’s response to the PayCM campaign is a summary of the current government’s response to all allegations of corruption and maladministration made against it. The allegation has been countered by the ruling regime than by the denial, which has gone to great lengths to show that the opposition party was no better or worse while in power.
The government first demonstrated this strategy publicly during Jan Spandan, an event organized to mark the third anniversary of the BJP government on 10 September. At the ceremony, Mr Bommai announced that his government would expose every scam of the Siddaramaiah-led Congress. Administration. Even though this was clearly an event meant to showcase the “achievements” of the BJP government, the dominant narrative was one of the removal of skeletons from the Congress wardrobe.
Mr. Bommai has stuck to his point of view in this matter. For example, when the opposition raised the issue of an alleged scam in the recruitment of police sub-inspectors and demanded a judicial inquiry, the BJP revived an alleged scam in teacher recruitment that dates back to Mr. Siddaramaiah’s time and CID probe ordered. , Similarly, when heavy rains and floods in Bengaluru’s IT corridor attracted widespread attention, the government had trouble explaining that encroachments had been substantial during previous governments. In the Assembly, Revenue Minister R. Ashoka said 42 lakes had disappeared in Bengaluru since 1963, residing on long encroachments during the previous regime, even as the opposition “disguised” this “deviation” to “hide current failures”. Screamed at the strategy. The BJP clearly hopes to reduce the Congress’s attack on the corruption front by matching every charge with counter-accusations related to the Congress’s rule from 2013 to 2018.
On his Bharat Jodi Yatra, which is currently passing through Karnataka, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is highlighting corruption as one of the issues of the current governance. Back in 2018, during election rallies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described the Congress government as a “10% government”, with a “system” of commissions and cuts, and the promise of clean governance.
Since then a lot of water has flowed under the bridge in Karnataka. The post-poll Congress-JD(S) alliance collapsed after 17 defectors to the BJP as a result of the infamous ‘Operation Kamala’, amid allegations that the MLAs were “bought out” by the saffron party. A year ago, the BJP replaced its chief minister BS Yediyurappa and installed Mr Bommai amid another string of corruption allegations, but this did not result in the image change it had hoped for.
With another election due in mid-2023 and election fever already in place, the crucial question is whether the BJP can achieve its ambitious target of winning 150 seats by exposing the corruption of the previous government alone, or whether it has anything to show. Whether something will happen or not. own achievement. BJP leaders led by Mr Bommai and Mr Yediyurappa embarked on a three-month state tour from October 11 as part of their election preparations. It remains to be seen whether this strategy continues.
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Behind all this lies a more important and sinister question: If corruption is on par, what makes the BJP a “party of difference”? In a state that has seen a sharp increase in communal divisions and violence over the past year, this is not a difficult answer.