The Congress has demanded the derecognition of the BJP Puducherry unit and the disqualification of its candidates in light of the observations made by the Madras High Court while hearing a petition against the BJP for misusing Aadhaar details, including the phone numbers, of voters.
Addressing a joint press conference here, former Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy and Congress general secretary Dinesh Gundu Rao said the High Court had taken a serious note of the complaints filed before it against the misuse of Aadhaar details.
“We will be filing a complaint before the Election Commission of India demanding the derecognition of the Puducherry unit of the BJP and the candidates for the Assembly election in the Union Territory. Getting Aadhaar details, including phone numbers, of individuals is a serious offence and amounts to breach of privacy,” Mr. Rao said.
The BJP should explain how it got the individual details of voters, he said, adding that it was a blatant example of the misuse of power.
Mr. Narayanasamy said the ECI should take serious note of the issue and ensure a level-playing field for all political parties.
Stating that the BJP manifesto was silent on giving statehood to the Union Territory, the former Chief Minister said All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) chief N. Rangasamy should make his stand clear on whether he agreed with the BJP, his alliance partner, on the issue.
“The AINRC had even appealed to political parties to boycott the election till the Centre conceded to the demand for statehood. Now, his alliance partner has given a manifesto that is silent on statehood. The AINRC should respond now if it is being genuine about their demand for statehood,” he added.
The former Chief Minister also challenged Mr. Rangasamy for an open debate on the performance of the Congress government during the last four-and-a-half years.
MP V. Vaithilingam and PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) senior vice president P.K. Devadoss were also present.
