Karnataka Elections started off on a controversial note, as Amit Malaviya BJP IT Cell head and Srivatsa B head of Congress Karnataka Social Media Cell ‘leaked’ the dates of upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections via tweets on social media platform Twitter. This alleged ‘date leak’ took place even before the Election Commission released the press statement announcing the dates for Karnataka Elections. Both the parties were quick to put the blame on each other, while Congress party raised questions on the integrity of the Elections Commission, claiming that the credibility of the EC is on test with latest ‘date leak’.
The alleged incident of ‘date leak’ comes at a time where BJP and Congress are being accused of using the services of now defamed Cambridge Analytica for the elections, while the ‘Aadhaar data leak’ has raised pertinent questions on government agencies role in safeguarding the data of billions of Indians. Election Commission of India has been accused by several opposition parties of favoring the Central government, even during the Gujarat Elections in 2017, Congress were blaming the EC of playing a ‘puppets role’ for BJP government when the the Elections Commission allegedly delayed the dates for elections in the state of Gujarat. The opposition parties including Congress have been vehemently questioning the tampering of EVMs to favor the BJP candidates, while BJP and Election Commission rejects such allegations as baseless, but this recent ‘date leak’ certainly challenges the claims of the EC and Central Government.
Facebook, a social media platform has become an integral part of its billions of users, a platform where people from different age group and social strata come across each other, a place for information, and a space for people to share there personal details and life updates. But the recent Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scam made people think about how safe is there information and data on the social media portal. The defamed data analytic firm Cambridge Analytica was using this data for voter profiling, and used the data to influence and manipulate the voters in Nigeria and USA during their respective Presidential Elections. The news that broke out few weeks ago, also raised a few eyebrows in India, when Ovleno Business Intelligence a data analytic firm in India had named the BJP, Congress, and JD(U) in the company website as the clients of the defamed firm that partners with Cambridge Analytica. Although the firm denied any connections with the slandered Cambridge Analytica, but people of the country still await a probe by the concerned ministry of Government of India into the whole matter. As soon as the names of these political parties came out, Congress and BJP were both quick to lament each other, while denying any involvement with defamed OBI or Cambridge Analytica. Even Prime Minster Modi’s endorsed NaMo app and Congress’ With INC app came under the radar, as there were accusations made on both the apps of transferring the data of app users to third-party institutions.
When Aadhaar was launched in 2009, back then many thought that finally the country will have something similar to the social security card issued to the public of USA. Some people and analysts questioned whether the Indian government and its agencies can safeguard the information and data of Aadhar card, but nine years down the lane the question remains pertinent. In January 2018, an Indian news agency broke the story on the ‘Aadhar Data Scam’, where the Aadhaar details were made available and accessible at mere Rs. 500. Aadhaar agency UIDAI rubbished the reports and instead filed a complaint against the reporter who exposed the loopholes existing within the UIDAI systems. The reports of ‘Aadhaar Data leaks’ come at a time when the government has been adamant to link the Aadhaar number with government institutions and banks to avail the services easily. In some parts of the country, people have been denied access to government schemes because of authentication failure of Aadhaar cards and failure to link up the card with services due mismatched biometrics. The Honorable Supreme Court recently had asked the UIDAI Chief Ajay Bhushan Pandey to present a presentation on the constitutional validity of Aadhaar. The UIDAI Chief was later presented with 20 points questionnaire, questioning the security and role of Aadhaar card.
These data leaks have certainly raised doubts over the central mechanisms of the government and how their ability to protect the data of more than 1.2 billion population can lead to drastic repercussions. The Election Commission is considered as an apex election body autonomous of the government’s intervention, but with growing allegations on the credibility of the institution, the question remains whether the Central government is playing the role of puppeteer, while orchestrating a victory in elections. Although EC has ordered a probe into the alleged ‘date leaks’ incident while giving a direct clean-chit to Amit Malaviya of BJP, as enquiry against Srivatsa B of Congress still continue. The EC is supposed to be an unbiased institution without any government interference, and needs to remain so as they are responsible for conducting free and fair elections in the country and ensure the pillars of democracy work cohesively rather than being influenced by each other and favor each other.
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