The Election Commission’s voluntary drive to collect Aadhaar numbers to link with voter IDs till June 2024 has triggered concerns in various quarters. Among them, former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Sunday said at a webinar that he had raised the issue with former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani over a phone call a few months ago. Quraishi said while Aadhaar could be used to weed out duplicate voter IDs, there were concerns that it may compromise election fairness. He said when he asked Nilekani about this, “He did give me some answer which left me uncomfortable because he did not say unequivocally that ‘no, no, no, don’t worry. No problem, I guarantee’. I have been guaranteeing the EVM’s integrity for instance, I expected that kind of confident reply from him.”
Face Recognition
The BJP insists that its campaign against corruption and rise in crimes in Rajasthan under the Ashok Gehlot government is gaining traction, but it seems to be upset over the lack of enthusiasm at the ground level. Sources said there have been reports that the BJP rallies, including those led by national leaders and Union ministers, are not getting impressive crowds. While some party leaders argue it is too early to predict the popular sentiment from the rallies, the state leadership has been asked to pull up its sleeves. Some national leaders feel that the party has not been able to communicate effectively to the cadre why the BJP would not have a CM face in the Assembly election. Those who were expecting former CM Vasundhara Raje to lead the BJP’s campaign are not yet convinced about the “idea of collective leadership” in the state, where it is heading for a fierce fight against the Congress, said the sources.
Musical Greeting
Greetings poured in for Prime Minister Narendra Modi from across the country on his 73rd birthday on Sunday. Among them was Indresh Kumar, a senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionary, who launched a musical CD of PM Modi’s poetic ode ‘Vande Mataram… Apni Shaan’ in New Delhi. Popular Akashvani musician Sanjay Sudhakar Handeh has composed the music and sung the song. Shahid Akhtar, president of Muslim Rashtriya Manch, was present during the launch of the CD. Prime Minister Modi originally wrote ‘Vande Mataram… Apni Shaan’ in Gujarati.
