A delegation of BJP leaders from the State led by their State president Kanna Lakshminarayana submitted a memorandum to Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan in Hyderabad on Wednesday seeking a probe into the alleged “voter data breach” and held Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu responsible for it.
‘Misuse of data’
Mr. Lakshminarayana stated that data pertaining to 3.70 crore voters had been misused at the behest of Mr. Naidu. The hiring of IT Grids (India) Pvt. Ltd., which provides IT solutions for various government departments, confirmed the nexus between the company and the ruling party, he added.
The government sanctioned projects pertaining to ‘Kutumba Vikasam’ and ‘Samaja Vikasam’ programmes to the Bluefrog Technologies through the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department (G.O. MS No. 75 dated January 29, 2019) and, on careful observation, the company was found to have indulged in hacking and misused the voter data.
Mr. Lakshminarayana further mentioned that the State government had created a State Resident Data Hub (SRDH) in association with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Bangalore, and it contained data such as the residents’ Aadhaar numbers, names, dates/years of birth, PIN codes, photographs, and biometrics. In 2016, the State government undertook the Smart Pulse Survey of all households to collect socio-economic data in the digital form with online validations.
SC judgment
The UIDAI had asked State governments to destroy the SRDH data after a Supreme Court judgment. “But the State government has been utilising the data for its political ends,” he charged.
The actions of Mr. Naidu and the TDP tantamount to subverting the electoral process, he alleged. In the interest of democracy and to ensure the conduct of elections in a fair manner, such illegal, unethical and unconstitutional acts should not be allowed, he said.
The data breach should, therefore, be investigated and action taken against all those involved, the BJP leaders appealed.