BJP, Congress claim ‘victory’

BJP says big victory for the ‘pro-poor’ Modi government

Both the BJP and the Congress Wednesday sought to claim victory over the Supreme Court's verdict on Aadhaar biometric system with the ruling party's chief Amit Shah mocking Rahul Gandhi’s contention that it supported his party's vision, saying the “Congress won today, just

like they won Lok Sabha polls in 2014”.

Immediately after the pronouncement of the verdict, both the parties used it to claim that it was a vindication of their respective positions on the contentious issue which triggered nationwide debate on privacy concerns. While the BJP called the judgement a big victory for the “propoor” Modi government, the Congress asserted

that the court striking down several provisions of the biometric system is a “slap” on the NDA government.

The Congress said by scrapping the “draconian” Section 57 and the national security exception in the Aadhaar Act, the Supreme Court firmly put an end to a “mass surveillance exercise” being carried out under the guise of Aadhaar by the central government

and the “grotesque distortion” of an idea conceived by the previous UPA dispensation.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sambit Patra also hit back at the Congress, saying the order has in fact exposed the opposition party.

The Congress favoured middlemen while the Modi government brought Aadhaar to ensure that benefits are given directly to people, he said.

“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,” Patra said.

The Aadhaar project was launched by the previous UPA government primarily to plug loopholes in delivering benefits of social welfare schemes to intended beneficiaries.