NEW DELHI: The Aadhaar divide between the government and Opposition parties showed up at the meeting of the parliamentary Standing Committee for home affairs on Wednesday, following six of its thirteen members from the ruling BJP, writing to panel chairman P Chidambaram to stop ongoing discussions on Aadhaar in its meetings and opposition party members insisting on taking it up.
The issue of "National Security and Privacy Concerns Related to Aadhaar" has been listed as "agenda number one" on the panel's list of items on the bulletin right in the beginning to be taken up and four meetings of the panel have already deliberated on the issue before Wednesday's meeting, according to sources.
The six MPs, who stayed away from Wednesday's meeting wrote to Chidambaram before it commenced that the committee should stop discussing the Aadhaar issue, as it is not within the purview of the home ministry and hence the related parliamentary committee has no mandate to discuss it, it is learnt. The BJP MPs argued that it should be taken up by the Standing Committee on IT and telecom instead. To that, of course the opposition MPs argued that since the discussion is on "national security and privacy concerns" it was very much within the rights of the home ministry related panel to take it up.
The opposition members of Congress, Trinamool Congress, NCP, SP, who were present on Wednesday also countered three attending BJP members that the issue has been listed as an agenda from the beginning and that the IT and telecom related panel could also take up the issue simultaneously, while viewing it from a different perspective.
In the letter the BJP signatories had also said that Chidambaram should recuse himself from any discussion on Aadhaar as the Congress member and an acclaimed lawyer had represented Congressman Jairam Ramesh in court on the privacy matter to do with Aadhaar and hence he had financial interests in taking up the issue. To this, Chidambaram stated he had appeared for "free" in that case and that the case had to do with whether Aadhaar bill could be treated as a money bill in Parliament, as the government had taken that route for the bill and hence it could not be linked to Aadhaar per say.
The panel wound up on Wednesday as the chair decided to take up the Aadhaar issue in its next meeting, with only few members attending Wednesday's meeting that went on for two hours. Most of the time was spent on discussing issued related to Lakshwadeep.
Asked about the issue, TMC MP Derek O'Brien who is a member of the panel later said, "I cannot discuss the proceedings of the committee but till our last breath we will fight for the rights of the poor and deprived who are having Aadhaar forced upon them." With TMC chief Mamata Banerjee one of the most fierce oppositions against Aadhaar linkages, and her party MPs having begun the session with a demonstration against it in Parliament, it is natural that her party will insist on the issue being discussed in the closed meetings of the Standing Committee.
