She said her government would send a team to the Election Commission over the issue
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the “sudden deactivation” of Aadhaar cards of people in her state, “especially those” belonging to the SC, ST and OBC communities.
She also asserted that such a “deactivation” exercise was against regulations and in gross violation of natural justice.
"I wish to bring to your kind notice a sudden development of the serious nature of indiscriminate deactivation of Aadhaar Cards of the people, especially those belonging to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and OBC communities in West Bengal," Ms Banerjee said in a letter to Prime Minister Modi.
"I would like to know the causes for such sudden deactivation of Aadhaar cards without assigning reasons. Is it to deprive beneficiaries of benefits or to create a panic situation among people before LS polls?" she said.
The chief minister claimed that the head office of Unique Identification Authority of India in New Delhi was directly issuing deactivation letters to individuals and family members without any field inquiry or taking the state into confidence.
“The present development has created chaos and hue and cry among the residents of the state, as a large number of people are approaching the district administration for redressal of their grievances,” she said in the letter.
Earlier in the day, Ms Banerjee attacked the BJP government at the Centre, alleging that the Aadhaar cards “were being deactivated” as a precursor to bringing in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
“I hope the ‘Matua' and SC/ST communities understand the BJP's game plan. I want to clearly state that I will not allow the NRC and detention camps in Bengal,” the CM told reporters at the state secretariat.
She said her government would send a team to the Election Commission over the issue.
Ms Banerjee also spoke of a “separate identification card” to ensure that people avail the benefits of social welfare schemes in the state.
"Do not worry if the Aadhaar card isn't there... if needed, we will issue a separate card so that nobody is deprived of any of our welfare schemes,” she said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)