A day after attending the Budget session wearing flowers behind their ears in protest against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Karnataka Congress on Saturday stepped up the ‘Kivi Mele Hoova’ campaign with posters across Bengaluru and Mangaluru.
The Kivi Mele Hoovu campaign represents the ‘flower on the ear’, which means someone has been tricked, alleging that the BJP government has cheated people by not fulfilling promises from the previous budget and its 2018 manifesto.
“The Congress stepped up the ‘Kivi Mele Hoova’ campaign by taking it to the streets now,” the party said in a statement.
“Posters of ‘Kivi Mele Hoova’ were seen on the top of the BJP ‘Achievement Wall’ paintings and posters in many parts of Bengaluru city and Mangalore this morning,” it added.
The Congress poster appeared on top of BJP posters showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, his predecessor B S Yediyurappa and BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel.
These posters were seen on Jayamahal Road in Bengaluru and Kankanadi in Dakshina Kannada district, a Congress activist said.
In protest against the ruling BJP in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah and other Congress leaders arrived at the state assembly for the Budget session wearing flowers behind their ears, alleging that the BJP government has cheated people and not fulfilled promises.
On Friday, former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said, “They are fooling people. That is why we are keeping flowers in our ears as a mark of protest. The double engine is not working. There is only smoke. CM Basavaraj Bommai can keep this budget in a showcase.”
Reacting to the Congress protest, CM Bommai said it was an irresponsible act from the Opposition. “This is an irresponsible and foolish act from Congress. They had nothing to say about our Budget, so they are doing such antics. They have been keeping flower people’s ears by deceiving for many years. Now people will give them the answer,” he said, adding that the Congress gave BJP publicity by using saffron flowers.
The BJP, in reaction to the Congress protests, started a Twitter campaign “Thatt Antha Heli” (Reply Quickly), to portray Congress as a “corrupt party”.
Congress, in the past, started a ‘PayCM’ campaign against the BJP government. A wordplay on digital payments firm PayTM, the PayCM campaign had a QR code showing Bommai’s face in the middle. The ‘PayCM’ was a campaign targeting the government on corruption, including the 40% commission allegation made by the Karnataka State Contractors Association.
