Punjab Govt only protecting people’s data: Harpal Cheema

Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Friday defended the action against the BJP’s public outreach programme, saying his government was only protecting people’s personal data under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Cheema said no individual, including members of the BJP, would be allowed to collect personal data from the public under any pretext. He questioned whether the BJP would take responsibility for any fraud that might occur as a result of their party members collecting data through awareness camps.

Addressing mediapersons, Cheema also accused the BJP of becoming a “vote thief party” since forming of its government at the Centre in 2014. Citing numerous incidents of “electoral manipulation” from the Chandigarh mayoral election to alleged voter irregularities in Bihar, he claimed that the BJP’s data collection camps in Punjab were a ploy to manipulate voter lists and potentially steal money from the bank accounts of unsuspecting citizens.

Cheema said the Act was enacted to safeguard people’s data, ensuring that no private individual could collect personal information without the permission of a competent authority. He said the collection of vital documents like Aadhaar by the BJP during these camps was illegal and could lead to serious consequences.