A day after she claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre was ‘deactivating’ Aadhaar cards of people of her state, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee shot off a letter to prime minister Narendra Modi, wanting to know the reason behind the ‘sudden, serious and indiscriminate deactivation' of Aadhaar cards.
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“I would like to know from you the causes for such a move. Is it just for the sake of depriving the eligible beneficiaries or to create a panic situation among the people at large just before the Lok Sabha elections,” Banerjee asked PM Modi.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo further wrote that she had received several representations in this regard, adding that there was ‘chaos and hue and cry among the residents of the state.’
‘We will continue paying beneficiaries’
{{/usCountry}}The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo further wrote that she had received several representations in this regard, adding that there was ‘chaos and hue and cry among the residents of the state.’
‘We will continue paying beneficiaries’
{{/usCountry}}On Sunday, accusing the Union government of 'deactivating' Aadhaar cards of people of West Bengal, including those from the state's Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Communities (OBC), Banerjee remarked that this was being done to ‘deprive’ them of benefits of her government's Lakshmir Bhandar Scheme.
“But. we will continue paying the beneficiaries of the scheme, even if they have no Aadhaar. Not a single beneficiary will be affected,” the chief minister vowed.
The flashpoint comes at a time when the West Bengal government is facing heat from the opposition BJP over the alleged mass rapes in Sandeshkhali, the bastion of absconding Trinamool leader Shahjahan Sheikh.
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The eastern state sends 42 members to the 543-seat Lok Sabha, the highest after Uttar Pradesh (80) and Maharashtra (48). In the 2019 national polls, the BJP registered its best-ever performance here, winning 18 seats, while the TMC's tally stood at only 22. The remaining two seats went to the Congress.