Bangalore, March 25 (IANS) Congress candidate Nandan Nilekani, contesting from the high-profile Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency, Tuesday complained to the Election Commission and the Press Council on charges levelled against him by BJP candidate Ananth Kumar on the unique identity scheme Aadhaar.
"Ananth Kumar is trying to gain mileage by abusing a government programme (Aadhaar) which he was promoting a few months ago. In fact, he asked only one question on Aadhaar when he was in parliament. Till recently, he was advertising on Aadhaar enrolment banners in the constituency he had been representing for the fifth time," Nilekani said in the complaint.
Nilekani was till recently chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in the central government.
Regretting that after he entered the election fray, Ananth Kumar had started attacking the programme, Nilekani said the BJP leader was part of forces trying to discredit a powerful anti-corruption step that would empower ordinary citizens.
"UIDAI never said the number is mandatory, which is another falsehood my opponent is spreading. Rather, some government agencies may decide to make the number mandatory to remove leakages and fraud in their systems," Nilekani said.
Referring to the Supreme Court order Monday on Aadhaar, Nilekani said it (ruling) was in response to a petition which UIDAI had filed as the agency did not want to share resident data for a criminal investigation.
"The apex court, in fact, upheld the UIDAI's position because the agency has always valued the privacy of resident data and went to the top court to ensure that people's privacy is protected," Nilekani said.
Nilekani said the BJP candidate was resorting to falsehood.
"He is using his party's prime ministerial candidate's (Narendra Modi) name to get elected because he has nothing to claim about himself and attacking Aadhaar to divert attention from his lack of achievements," he said.
Terming Ananth Kumar's charge that the UIDAI project cost the exchequer Rs.50,000 crore as grossly inaccurate, Nilekani said the agency had stated in its budget that it had spent only Rs.3,813 crore till December 2013, which is half of Bangalore's civic annual budget.
"There is no UIDAI budget that states Rs.50,000 crore as either planned or spent. The programme is expected to save taxpayers an estimated Rs.30,000 crore per year over the next few years by reducing corruption," Nilekani noted.
Court defers hearing in case against Irom Sharmila
New Delhi, March 2 (IANS) A Delhi court on Monday posted for June 5 the hearing in a case against Manipur activist Irom Sharmila for attempting suicide during her fast-unto-death here in
What return is Yuvraj Singh going to make on the cricket pitch?
Cricket fans are disappointed with India's performance in the T20 World Cup.
The government's big decision, these items of single-use plastic will be completely banned
The central government has taken a big decision to protect the environment. The Modi government has decided to completely ban single-use plastic from July 1. On Tuesday, the central government
GST: The price of curd, and lassi will increase from July 18, treatment will be expensive, but these goods will be cheap
Amidst rising inflation, the prices of packaged and labeled curd, paneer, lassi, and essential items of daily use will have to pay more GST from July 18. This will increase the prices of essential
Worrying: The deteriorating situation in Chandigarh, UK strain found in 70 percent sample, increased administration worries
Chandigarh has also come under the grip of Corona's new strain. UK strains have been found in 70 percent of corona test samples sent from PGI to the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) New
Got a finisher like Dhoni: Badoni won Lucknow by hitting a six against Delhi, also finished the match against Chennai
Lucknow's Ayush Badoni scored 10 runs in 3 balls in the match against Delhi on Thursday, hitting a six to give victory to the team. Also finished the match against Chennai. In the first match too, he
My Priorities are Growth, Jobs: Modi to Investors
New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said his priority was for India to establish global benchmarks in areas such as governance, transparency and taxation.Interacting over
Government committed to ending manual scavenging: Minister
New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) The government was committed to ending the practice of manual scavenging, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot said Monday.After meeting a group of
Covid-19 Update: 656 new cases surfaced in the last 24 hours in the country, and active corona cases reduced to 13,037
There is a rapid decline in the case of global epidemic corona in the country. For the last several days, there is a continuous decline in the daily cases of corona. According to the report of the
'Parties need to understand minds of young voters'
New Delhi, March 26 (IANS) Political parties need to understand the minds of young voters and especially think about the expectations of those vulnerable among them, an organisation working for
