Siddaramaiah's 'Fake' World Record Celebration Post Sparks Mockery Fest Online, BJP Taunts Congress For Falling For ‘Scam Within A Scam’

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s celebratory post on social media hailing two 'world records' for the state’s transport initiatives soon backfired after users pointed out that the certifying body named the London Book of World Record (LBWR) had been dissolved months earlier in July. The 'feeling proud' moment of the Chief Minister turned into a digital embarrassment in just no time.

The post, which praised the state’s Shakti Scheme for achieving 564.10 crore free bus rides by women was deleted with a couple of hours after sharp criticism and fact-checks online exposed grammatical errors and evident inconsistencies in the certificates.

‘Fake Certificate’ Goes Viral

According to records from the UK’s Companies House, the London Book of World Records (LBWR) was formally dissolved on July 15, 2025 which raised doubts about the authenticity of the certificates. Memes and sarcastic comments soon flooded the platform. “Someone from Karol Bagh seems to have designed it,” one user quipped. Others posted side-by-side comparisons showing spelling mistakes and broken English on the certificates claimed to have been issued from 'London'. Many others shared concerns suggesting the Congress government had been 'conned'.

BJP Takes Aim, Calls It ‘Big Embarrassment For Congress’

The Bharatiya Janata Party seized the moment to taunt the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka. Taking to X, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya called it 'a big embarrassment for Congress'.

“Turns out — it’s FAKE. Someone literally conned the Congress! The so-called ‘certificate’ is full of spelling and grammatical errors. Worse, the company was dissolved in July 2025, and the page is now apparently being run from Chuna Mandi, Paharganj, Delhi - under the name London Book of World Records! Only the Congress could fall for this level of scam within a scam," he wrote.

BJP leader CT Ravi also weighed in. He accused the Siddaramaiah government of chasing ‘cheap’ publicity stunts.

"Not only the certificate is fake. It has a rate card to buy! How low can you go and show all this cheap tricks to fool people,' MLC CT Ravi lashed out at the Karnataka government on X. 

JD(S) too hit out at the Siddaramaiah government. Check its post:

Karnataka Govt Issues Clarification

Amid the uproar, Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy was forced to issue a clarification stating that while the certificates may have been questionable, the underlying achievements were genuine and verifiable. He stated that the intent of the post was to celebrate Karnataka’s commitment to progressive governance and efficient public service delivery. 

Responding to the controversy, he further added that Shakti has indeed enabled over 100 crore free bus journeys by women, making it one of the world’s largest gender mobility programmes, and that KSRTC has won over 460 awards for service excellence since 1997.