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Mumbai: An alleged posters war between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition Congress in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh received a corporate twist earlier this week, with digital payment company, PhonePe issuing a stern warning to the Congress party over the use of its logo in posters put up by it to hit out at rival BJP.
“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,” the company said in a statement on the microblogging site Twitter, Monday.
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 🙏.
— PhonePe (@PhonePe) June 26, 2023
It also added: “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.”
Madhya is scheduled to vote for the assembly later this year, and the BJP and the Congress are engaged in a stiff battle for supremacy in the upcoming polls.
The PhonePe statement comes days after posters of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan appeared across Madhya Pradesh, which bore the PhonePe logo and alleged “50 percent commission” graft in the state.
The posters bore the CM’s face on a replica of a QR code with the slogan “50% lao PhonePe, kaam karao [give 50% commission on PhonePe and get your job done]”.
The poster had also been shared by the state unit of the Congress on Twitter earlier this week.
कटनी रेलवे स्टेशन पर शिवराज का भ्रष्टाचार
50% लाओ, फ़ोन पे काम कराओ
मध्यप्रदेश की जनता जानती है,
50% कमीशनखोरों को पहचानती है। pic.twitter.com/N3vXwqtY4A— MP Congress (@INCMP) June 26, 2023
A similar campaign against the previous Basavraj Bommai-led BJP government in Karnataka was run by the Congress in the run-up to last’s year’s assembly elections, which the Congress won by a decisive majority. The “40 percent sarkara” campaign was believed to be an allusion to the “40% commission” row that erupted in April last year following the death of Belagavi-based contractor Santosh Patil. In a purported suicide note, Patil had accused former state minister and BJP leader K.S. Eshwarappa of demanding 40 percent commission for a government project.
The Shivraj Singh Chouhan posters in Madhya Pradesh reportedly followed the appearance of similar posters targeted at Congress leader and former CM Kamal Nath, with the slogan “Wanted Commission Nath”.
While the BJP has denied involvement in the Kamal Nath posters and accused the Congress of playing “dirty politics”, the MP Congress alleged it was the BJP’s fear of losing ground in the state which was making it resort to such tactics.
Also read: BJP’s ‘Rani Durgavati Gaurav Yatra’ has dual aim in MP — ‘Gond pride, women empowerment’
Congress vs BJP
Meanwhile, a BJP worker in Madhya Pradesh has reportedly filed a police complaint against the posters targeting CM Chouhan.
On Thursday, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister and BJP leader Narottam Mishra hit out at the Congress’s “dirty politics”, while talking to the media.
Mishra showed purported CCTV footage of some people putting up the posters, and alleged “it is clearly seen that Congress workers are putting up these posters”.
Talking about the Kamal Nath posters, Mishra alleged it was “an outcome of Congress’ internal war. Give us proof (if it’s done by BJP), the way we are showing you proof”.
“It is for the first time that PhonePe company has given out a warning. If they approach us with a complaint, we will definitely take action,” the Madhya Pradesh minister further said.
When asked about the PhonePe statement, K.K. Mishra, chairman of Madhya Pradesh Congress’s media cell told ThePrint, “We have not received any notice so far. When we do, we will respond. The law will take its course.”
He added: “MP politics was never so shallow and dirty to resort to such posters. But the BJP which is clearly uncomfortable and sensing it’s losing ground is resorting to such things. But now that they have started it, we will certainly end it.”
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Also read: Chapter on Savarkar to be taught in MP schools, Congress calls it ‘insult to freedom fighters’
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