MYSURU: Seeking to make light of the Congress' aggressive PayCM campaign targeted against him in the poll-bound state, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said even children know how it is done and claimed the opposition party was on the decline.
People have seen enough, he said about the opposition party's campaign.
"Let the Congress party continue the PayCM campaign and we will welcome it. The decline of the Congress has started," the chief minister told reporters here. According to him, there were enough scams on the Congress's platter, yet the party launched the campaign against him.
"What's in it (PayCM)? Any stuff in it? It is nothing but a campaign which people have seen enough of. This can be done on any app and on the internet, and it is known even to children. It is baseless," he said.
To a query whether the campaign had been launched against a Lingayat as Chief Minister, Bommai said some people may have spoken about it in a fit of anger.
He slammed the Congress leaders and said they were so selfish that they were ready to sacrifice the State's interests and tarnish its image and reputation to come back to power.
On the increased individual criticism, Bommai said there was ample opportunity for everyone to discuss in the Legislative Assembly but they did not have concrete material with them to debate it there. So, Congress has resorted to a low-level campaign, he said.
Replying to a question about whether the PayCM campaign was launched in view of Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' (Unite India March) entering Karnataka, Bommai said he was not aware and that it must be asked of those "who do dirty politics.
"Rahul Gandhi will come and go, but whichever constituencies he had visited in the previous election, the lotus (BJP symbol) had bloomed," Bommai said.
The Congress launched the PayCM campaign and started putting up posters on public walls in various parts of the State accusing the present dispensation of indulging in corruption.
Resembling payment platform Paytm's advertisements, the poster had the chief minister's image in the middle of a QR code. Upon scanning, the QR code redirects one to a portal https://40percentsarkara.com/#/home The ruling BJP too is mulling over a tech-based offensive against the Congress, sources in the saffron party said.