Trinamool flags UIDAI’s Aadhaar deactivation; calls it ‘planted exercise’

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday lashed out at both the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) after the latter deactivated Aadhaar numbers of nearly 34 lakh deceased individuals in Bengal. The state’s ruling party described the move as a “pre-planned exercise” aimed at deleting names from

the voters’ list.

TMC leaders in Bengal strongly refuted the UIDAI’s findings, calling it a pre-planned move orchestrated by the Election Commission. The ruling party questioned the credibility of the Aadhaar authority’s claims and reiterated that it would launch massive protests if the names of genuine voters were deleted.

In social media posts, Trinamool Congress stated: “On what basis has the UIDAI made the claim of deactivating Aadhaar of such a huge number of dead people? Earlier, UIDAI had assured that it never collected figures related to the Aadhaar deactivation process based on any grounds and names of any states.” TMC claimed: “It’s a planted exercise to delete names. We will organise mass protests and take legal steps if any genuine voter is deleted from the list.”

Incidentally, it was learnt that the UIDAI recently held a meeting with officials from the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and informed them about the deactivation of Aadhaar numbers belonging to a large number of deceased residents from the state. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Arup Chakraborty stated: “CEO office sources said that UIDAI has given information about the deactivation of around 32-34 lakh Aadhaar numbers. Earlier, UIDAI in Parliament said in written form that they do not collect any specific state or yearly basis data related to the deactivation of the Aadhaar number. How did they provide this data to the CEO’s office?”

Chakraborty added: “The move means around 5 percent of the total voters in Bengal will be deleted. In Bihar, many people were declared dead. Later, it was found that those who were declared dead turned up and lodged complaints with the opposition parties in Bihar. They even moved the Supreme Court. They also raised questions if the ECI would issue death certificates.”

He also asserted that Trinamool Congress will thwart any Bihar-like attempts made here in Bengal. He alleged that ECI, in collusion with the BJP, has attempted to loot votes.