Supreme Court has granted two weeks to both BJP and Congress to make their stand clear whether either of them is in any position to stake claim for government formation in Delhi in the wake of the Assembly being kept under suspended animation following the resignation of Aam Aadmi Party Government. It is unlikely that either BJP or Congress will stake claim. After that SC will again take up the matter and Delhi will be placed under president rule for brief period at least till the formation of new governemnt at Center. The election commission then look into holding elections for Delhi assembly and this may happen in Aug/ Sept, this year.
Today I filed a complaint with the Election Commission and the Press Council of India on the recent lies and omissions that are being spread by vested interests and by Ananth Kumar.
I have said from the beginning, that I am running a clean, honest campaign, because I stand for a better kind of politics. My opponent is not doing the same.
Ananth Kumar is trying to gain mileage, by abusing a government program which he was himself promoting only a few months ago.
He asked just one question on Aadhaar the entire time he was in Parliament. And now, why this sudden concern? Just a few months ago, he was advertising himself on Aadhaar enrolment banners in Bengaluru South. Once I entered politics however, he began to attack the program.
He is part of the pro-corruption, anti-development forces who are trying to discredit a powerful anti-corruption effort, one that will empower ordinary citizens across the country.
The UIDAI never said that the number was mandatory.
This is another falsehood that my opponent is spreading. Rather some government agencies may decide to make the number mandatory to remove leakages and fraud in their systems.
The ruling from the Supreme Court yesterday was in response to a motion filed by the UIDAI itself, since the agency didn’t want to share resident data for a criminal investigation. The Supreme Court upheld the position of the UIDAI. The UIDAI has always valued the privacy of resident data and the agency went to the courts to ensure that people’s privacy is protected.
It is sad that Ananth Kumar has to resort to such desperate tactics. He is doing this, because he has no good record to defend – he is busy taking credit for Cauvery 2nd stage, which was completed in the late 1970s, and for Cauvery 3rd stage, which was completed in the early 1990s! Now, he is using Modi to try and get elected because he has nothing to say about himself. He is attacking Aadhaar to draw attention away from his own lack of achievements.
While my opponent is trying to spread rumours, ordinary people have come up to me and told me how the Aadhaar number has helped them. They tell me it has helped them open a bank account, has helped them get a driving license, helped them get the benefits they are eligible for. Rs. 2,000 crorehas already been transferred with the help of Aadhaar into lakhs of accounts for ordinary people.
I am here to solve the problems of the people.
I am here because our city, our constituencies have been ignored for much too long.
Here are the various falsehoods and inaccuracies being reported:
- The UIDAI project has spent Rs.50,000 crore: This is misinformation and is grossly inaccurate. The UIDAI has clearly stated in its budget that it spent Rs.3,813 crore as of December 2013 – around half of BBMP’s annual budget. There is no UIDAI budget that states Rs.50,000 crore as either planned, or as spent budget. The program is expected to save Indian taxpayers an estimated Rs.30,000 crore per year in the next few years by reducing corruption.
- The claim that Aadhaar is given to ‘illegal immigrants’: Aadhaar only gives you a unique identity, not a citizenship card. Anyone residing in the country can get an Aadhaar card because the number does not guarantee citizenship. This is printed on the card: that it’s not a proof of citizenship.
- Provides identity of Indians to Pakistani terrorists: This is again a dangerous falsehood. The Aadhaar database is stored safely and securely under government control, and cannot be stolen and sold. When the Indian government agency CBI requested Aadhaar information, the UIDAI moved the Supreme Court in protest, and yesterday the Court upheld the stand of the UIDAI.
- ‘You can get an Aadhaar in the name of Bin Laden’: This is again a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Aadhaar number works. You can get an Aadhaar acknowledgement slip under a fake name, but your own biometrics will be linked to it. So if you have a previous Aadhaar number, the Bin Laden Aadhaar will not be accepted by the database – it will be rejected as duplicate.
- Ananth Kumar himself falsely implies, on his Facebook post, that the SC bench considers Aadhaar “Niraadhaar”. Here he is putting words into the mouths of the Honourable Supreme Court.