Won’t desist from registering cases for data theft: Punjab FM Harpal Cheema

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Sunday said the state government won’t desist from lodging cases against BJP leaders for the “theft of people’s data”, if required.

He also accused the BJP, which rules at the Centre, of adopting “cheap and deceitful tactics” to deprive poor Punjabis of the subsidised ration.

Speaking on the BJP’s awareness camps under its public outreach programme, Cheema told reporters, “Under the guise of the camps, the BJP is collecting personal data of Punjabis, which is a violation of the Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 enacted by the Centre.”

“Over the past few days, the BJP has been stealing the data of Punjabis and is prepared to misuse and manipulate it. The BJP has now become a serious threat to India’s democracy,” he alleged.

When asked if the AAP government was contemplating FIRs against this alleged data theft, Cheema said the government would register cases wherever they get such complaints and no one, including the BJP, would be spared.

The Finance Minister alleged that BJP was planning to cancel over 8 lakh ration cards in Punjab, which would deprive 32 lakh people of their entitlement to subsidised foodgrains.

“This is a part of a conspiracy to target Punjab and Punjabis,” he alleged.

Cheema said the BJP always extended a “step-motherly treatment” to Punjabis. “Its examples include blocking of Rs 8,000 crore of Rural Development Fund (RDF), withholding nearly Rs 1,000 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), and not releasing pending GST compensation worth Rs 50,000 crore,” he alleged.

AAP leaders interact with reporters across state

Meanwhile, ruling AAP ministers and legislators held press conferences across Punjab over the ration distribution issue.

The party leaders who spoke to the media included AAP state president Aman Arora, Ministers Harbhajan Singh ETO, Baljit Kaur, Tarunpreet Sondh, Balbir Singh, Ravjot and Hardeep Mundian.

Party leaders alleged that the BJP-ruled Centre was conspiring to deprive lakhs of beneficiaries subsidised food.

“They are doing this to harass the people of Punjab and its farmers. But we will not tolerate this and will not allow even a single Punjabi's name to be removed from the free ration list,” an AAP leader said. “As long as there is an AAP government in Punjab, we will not let a single ration card be cancelled,” another leader alleged.

They said the excuses being made by the BJP-led Centre to “cancel ration cards” were extremely ridiculous."

“If one member of a family makes a mistake, the entire family cannot be punished for it. In fact, this has exposed the BJP's anti-poor agenda. Keeping the poor in trouble is their politics. That is why it always talks about industrialists and corporates,” said a release.