'What next? Linking Aadhaar to Swiss bank accounts?' asks Patidar leader Hardik Patel

NEW DELHI: Patidar leader Hardik Patel took to Twitter to post what appears to be his scathing indictment of the Centre insisting on Aadhaar cards for all amenities for India's citzenry and ignoring issues like unemployment and black money.

'What next? Linking Aadhaar to Swiss bank accounts?', he asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Patel, who's expected to be a thorn in the side of the BJP as it tries to hold on to power in the upcoming Gujarat polls, tweeted a picture of himself at an election rally surrounded by crowds.

His caption to the picture addresses what he believes is the Centre's unnecessary focus on issues like Aadhaar instead of real woes like unemployment.


"These people are not siding with me. They are on the side of the issues that matter. I'm wondering, what next? Linking Aadhaar to Swiss bank accounts?"


While Patel wouldn't have known this before he tweeted, his comment, it turns out, was prescient - hours later, the Indian Express released new data that showed as many as 714 uber-wealthy Indians avoided paying taxes.

The expose, called 'Paradise Papers', just like last year's 'Panama Papers' disclosures, exposes the hidden wealth of global individuals, including Indians, and shows how corporations, hedge funds and others may have skirted taxes.

Among the 180 countries represented in the data, India ranks 19th in terms of the number of names, a report on the Express website said.

This disclosure comes two days before the BJP-led NDA government marks the first anniversary of the demonetization drive on November 8, which the Centre will observe as Anti-Black Money Day.

The opposition, on the other hand, will observe the day as just a 'black day', in protest of what it says was a disastrous move that cost the country in GDP and in lives.