BJP leaders say adverse ruling would have been a ‘huge embarrassment’ to Modi who pushed for Aadhaar, making it the basis of welfare schemes.
New Delhi: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is breathing easy after the Supreme Court Wednesday declared Aadhaar as constitutionally valid.
“This is a breather for us, a relief that the storm is now over. It would have been a loss of face for the BJP government if the court had ruled otherwise, especially since Prime Minister Narendra Modi has personally pushed the scheme to such an extent,” a highly placed source in the party said.
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The party felt it would have been a “huge embarrassment to PM Modi” and a “setback to his image of a strong leader” had the ruling been adverse.
In a majority judgment, a five-bench constitutional bench of the Supreme Court upheld the validity of Aadhaar, and said it “gives dignity to marginalised sections, which outweighs the harm.”
The court, however, said private companies can’t insist on Aadhaar data and banks and mobile phone companies can’t insist on Aadhaar-linking.
BJP’s push
Given that the BJP government has made welfare its key pitch and a pro-poor image its main plank, the apex court ruling on Aadhaar is being seen by the party as a boost since it has made the 12-digit unique ID the basis of its many welfare initiatives.
“We see it as a big victory of the Modi government, the pro-poor Modi government. The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar and has also said that it does not violate privacy,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said.
Even though Aadhaar was conceptualised and introduced by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime in 2009, it was the Modi-led BJP government that actually accelerated its implementation.
The BJP government has maintained that Aadhaar is a useful tool to not just provide identity to all, but also to ensure services can reach beneficiaries in a targeted manner, with minimal leakages, duplication and ghost beneficiaries.
Ironically, the BJP was opposed to Aadhaar when the Congress brought it in.
Soon after coming to power, Modi chaired a high level meeting in September 2014, and directed the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a statutory body, to ensure universal coverage under Aadhaar by June 2015.
At that point — barely months after Congress demitted office — the Aadhaar enrollment was around 68 crore. As of today, this figure is nearly double at 122.5 crore, of India’s approximately 125 crore population. Effectively, in four and a half years in power, the Modi government has pushed for a near 100 per cent coverage.
While Aadhaar-based Direct Benefits Transfer was launched by Congress, the BJP made Aadhaar the basis of all its welfare programmes, linking it to every conceivable scheme, including MGNREGS, pensions, scholarships, public distribution system, LPG connections and Jan Dhan Yojana to name a few.
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Even though the court has stopped banks and telecom companies from making Aadhaar mandatory — something the BJP government was keen on — it has allowed it to be used for government services, and said it must be linked to the Permanent Account Number (PAN) number.
Congress claims ‘victory’
The Congress, meanwhile, is also claiming victory.
“SC ends the mass surveillance exercise being carried out under the guise of Aadha(a)r by the Central Government and the grotesque distortion of an idea conceived by the UPA,” party communications department in-charge Randeep Surjewala said in a series of tweets.
#AadharVerdict
Quashing of Modi Government’s Surveillance Tool; Sec 57 puts an end to abuse of power.
SC ends the mass surveillance exercise being carried out under the guise of Aadhar by the Central Government and the grotesque distortion of an idea conceived by the UPA.
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) September 26, 2018
“The Congress led UPA’s vision of Aadhaar was always voluntary and never mandatory. This is an endorsement of the UPA’s vision for Aadha(a)r and a rejection of the NDA’s clumsy attempt to gather meta data on its citizens without any rationale,” added Surjewala.
The party has been raising concerns about the lack of privacy safeguards in the law that backs Aadhaar. The categorisation of Aadhaar as a ‘money bill’ has also been challenged by the Congress with its leaders like Jairam Ramesh approaching court against this decision.