Bhopal: Digital payments platform PhonePe has warned Congress of legal action for using its name and logo in posters targeting Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan amidst an ongoing poster battle between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.
The company has urged the Congress party to remove the posters or face legal consequences.
The posters feature a QR code with the Chief Ministers face and read: 50% laao, PhonePe kaam karao (pay 50% commission to get your work done).
The regional branch of the Congress party shared videos on its official Twitter account featuring these posters that have appeared in various cities including Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Sehore, Rewa, Mandsaur, Ujjain, Bhind, Balaghat, Budhni, and several others. It is worth noting that Budhni happens to be the Assembly constituency represented by Shivraj Chouhan.
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MP Congress (@INCMP) June 26, 2023
On Monday, PhonePe reacted to the posters, saying it objected to the unauthorised usage of its brand logo by any third party, whether political or non-political.
The company said any unauthorised use of the logo would invite legal action, and urged Congress to remove the posters.
PhonePe objects to the unauthorized use of its brand logo by any third party, whether political or non-political. We are not affiliated with any political campaign or party. PhonePe logo is a registered trademark of our company. Any unauthorized use of Intellectual Property Rights of PhonePe will invite legal action. We humbly request @INCMP to remove the posters with our brand and logo, the company tweeted.
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.
PhonePe (@PhonePe) June 26, 2023
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister and BJP leader Narottam Mishra said with the posters Congress has revealed it engaged in dirty politics.
The dirty politics of Congress has come to the fore. Nothing to say after the Phonepe tweet, he said, according to news agency ANI.
He denied that BJP had any role in spreading posters, accusing veteran Congress leader Kamal Nath of corruption and mocking him as Corrupt Nath.
BJP engages in clean politics and does not do dirty tricks like Congress, he said.
The public knows that you [Congress] are blaming others to hide your corruption. FIR has been registered in Burhanpur, Chhindwara and will take action against it, he said.
#WATCH | The dirty politics of Congress has come to the fore. Nothing to say after the Phonepe tweet. The public knows that you are blaming others to hide your corruption. FIR has been registered in Burhanpur, Chhindwara and will take action against it: Madhya Pradesh Home https://t.co/ILXUFhjpEL pic.twitter.com/Eo6blo7C1G
ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) June 29, 2023
On June 23, posters of the Congress leader emerged in the Shahpura locality of Bhopal. These posters labelled him as Corrupt Nath, listed him as wanted, and associated him with various scams.
The posters also included a QR code with the message Scan kare, scam se bachne ke liye (Scan to protect yourself from scams).
Congress had admitted that its posters on Shivraj Chouhan were a retaliation to posters on Kamal Nath.
