With barely five months left for the crucial assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, the political rivalry between the Opposition Congress and ruling BJP became murkier as posters slandering the images of state Congress chief Kamal Nath and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan emerged at a few places in Bhopal and Indore.

Posters depicting Kamal Nath as ‘Corruption Nath’ appeared on Saturday at some places including a bus stand and railway station at Indore. Earlier, similar posters were seen in areas like Manisha market in Bhopal on Friday.

By Friday evening, rival posters depicting Shivraj Singh Chouhan as ‘Shivraj Nahi, Ghotala Raj’ were spotted at some locations including the Link Road and the state government Directorate Satpura Bhavan, which was engulfed in a massive inferno just a few days ago.

With a photo of Kamal Nath on them, the posters against the former MP CM read, ‘Wanted: Corruption Nath’. These posters even had a QR code, which on scanning showed the alleged scams of the 15-month long Congress state government under Kamal Nath.

The posters on Shivraj Singh Chouhan also contained the CM’s photograph. Some of them read, ‘Shivraj ke 18 saal, Ghaple aur Ghotalon ki bharmaar’ (18 years of Shivraj, plethora of scams and irregularities). These posters mentioned the alleged scams under Chouhan’s rule including dumper scam, Vyapam scam, nutritious meal scam, E-tendering scam, Urea scam and others.

Reacting to the posters, leaders of both parties exchanged accusations and denials.

Kamal Nath took a strong objection to the posters against him and claimed that there has never been any accusation on him regarding corruption. He asserted that he did not require any certificate of honesty from the BJP. He accused the BJP and Shivraj Chouhan of stooping to such a low level to defame him.

Some Congress leaders also staged a protest demonstration and sat on a dharna outside a police station in Bhopal demanding registration of an FIR against those who put up such defamatory posters.

The BJP leaders, however, said the party had nothing to do with the posters against Kamal Nath. They said disgruntled Congress workers and leaders might have put up the posters due to the factionalism in the Congress.

On the other hand, the BJP also accused the Congress of indulging in dirty politics by trying to defile the clean image of CM Chouhan.

BJP media in-charge Ashish Agrawal asserted that CM Chouhan’s image would not be tarnished by such lowly and murky ploys of the Congress. The BJP leaders also submitted an application in a police station to take action against those who put up the posters against the CM.

The Congress denied any involvement in the posters against Shivraj Chouhan. Congress leaders said the public is well aware of the scams of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and the people might have put up the posters against the CM.

The State Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh would be held most likely in November this year.