Days after the BJP launched its ‘Rakshisi Bengaluru’ campaign, accusing the Congress of “ruining” the city, the ruling party hit back. Terming the BJP’s "20-page pictorial booklet" expose a lie, the Congress pointed out that some of the pictures that were used, were in fact from Mizoram and Nepal, and not from Bengaluru.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party caught lying again! While Congress is working towards providing the best amenities for Bengaluru's citizens, BJP is busy defaming and lying about the city," tweeted the Karnataka Congress on Saturday.

This was a follow-up to Congress supporter Srivatsa’s tweet, which showed pictures used in BJP’s booklet against the ‘true’ source of the image.

While a picture claiming to display the garbage menace in the capital city Bengaluru was taken in Kathmandu by the American website npr.org, another picture showing potholes was reportedly shot in Mizoram. However, when TNM ran a reverse image search of the pothole picture, it showed that the image was shot at Mumbai’s Santacruz flyover on August 30, 2017.

Reacting to the Congress' allegations that his party was "lying", BJP state spokesman Vamanacharya said the ruling party has "lost its face" after the booklet was released and was hence finding loopholes. "Sometimes different pictures might look alike, but the content of the booklet is entirely true. Congress has lost its face after the chargesheet was released by us and is now only looking for loopholes," Vamanacharya told IANS here.

What the row between the two warring parties illustrates is the sheer laziness on the part of the BJP to find pictures from Bengaluru – given that garbage woes and potholes problems are not exactly non-existent in the city.

Meanwhile, an Ex ABVP State Convenor has accused the Congress of using fake images too.

BJP state unit in-charge and Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday had released the booklet listing the omissions and commissions of the ruling Congress government that "allegedly" ruined the city.

"Since the Congress came to power in 2013, Bengaluru has turned into a garbage city, a crime city and a rape city from what it was known for greenery, salubrious climate and IT prowess," Javadekar had said. The Congress has made the city a "hell" to live in, he had remarked. The BJP was demanding an answer from the ruling Congress for its "mal-administration" that led to the city's infrastructure being ruined, he asserted.

(With inputs from IANS)