Faced with accusations from the Trinamool Congress that the Centre was cancelling Aadhaar cards of SC, ST and minority people in West Bengal to deprive poor people from getting the benefits of welfare schemes, the BJP today rushed to control the damage.
Shantanu Thakur, Minister of State for Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India, sought to allay fears and said that he had spoken to authorities in New Delhi and could “say with authority” that the cancellations were the result of “technical errors”. He also unveiled an email id on which those people whose Aadhaar cards were cancelled could send in their complaints. “All complaints will be taken care of within hours,” he assured.
For the second day running, West Bengal Chief Minister accused the BJP Government at the Centre of “intentionally cancelling” people’s Aadhaar registrations “to deprive them of social schemes’ benefits”, and said that her Government would not allow any State schemes to be linked with Aadhaar and people could avail benefits even if they do not have Aadhaar cards.
The Trinamool Congress chief also alleged that the BJP is conspiring to implement NRC as well as CAA. “Be alert, they are also playing a game in the name of implementing the Uniform Civil Code,” she said.
The BJP’s Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari wrote on his social media handles: “UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) has issued clarification that no Aadhaar Card has been cancelled. I urge everyone not to believe any gossip or misinformation. The Chief Minister is unnecessarily trying to create panic. No one should be worried.”
He also said that he had spoken to the Home Minister Amit Shah. “He assured me that this was an unintentional error which will be rectified very soon,” he said.
“No one’s Aadhaar number has been cancelled by the UIDAI or the Central Government,” Adhikari said and alleged that there was a “big conspiracy behind the confusion spread over the cancellation of Aadhaar cards”. For this, the Opposition party leader pointed fingers at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and State Police DG Rajeev Kumar. Today, speaking from the State Government headquarters, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said: “I am telling the people of Bengal, don’t be afraid. I am here. I will not allow any scheme in Bengal to be linked with the Aadhaar card.”
“First the Centre insists on this (Aadhaar) card. Then suddenly it cancelled many cards without informing anyone. I know some cards were cancelled in Bardhaman, some people’s cards were cancelled in Birbhum, and some in both 24 Parganas. This is the conspiracy of the Centre… so that you won’t get the advantage of social schemes,” the Trinamool Congress chief said. “Whether Aadhaar is there or not, no project or facility of the State Government will be stopped… From now on, I will not allow Aadhaar to be linked to any welfare scheme of the State,” she added.