Bommai Accuses Rahul Gandhi of Double Standards Over Voter ID-Welfare Linkage

In a post on X, Bommai said Union Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, popularly known as Lalan Singh, had only discussed the possibility of using electoral roll entries to identify beneficiaries and had not issued any formal order implementing the proposal.

Despite this, Bommai said, Rahul Gandhi had strongly criticised the Centre’s position.

The BJP MP contrasted this with a proposal announced by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, under which beneficiaries of the state’s guarantee schemes and other welfare programmes would reportedly be required to have their names on the voter list.

“Unfortunately, Rahul Gandhi is turning a blind eye to what is happening in his own state and opposing the Centre merely to criticise it,” Bommai said.

He accused the Congress leader of taking different positions on the same issue depending on whether it involved the Union government or a state administered by his party.

“There are several such instances. What Rahul Gandhi expects the Centre to implement is already being implemented in his own state. This clearly shows that he is politicising every issue,” Bommai alleged.

Centre’s proposal sparks opposition criticism

The controversy follows remarks by Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh at a National Workshop on the Jan Yojana Abhiyaan, also known as the People's Plan Campaign.

Singh had spoken about using Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers along with biometric authentication to identify beneficiaries and process payments under schemes administered by his ministry, including the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Gram Swaraj Yojana.

He said Aadhaar would no longer be the sole basis for identifying beneficiaries, arguing that Aadhaar cards could be obtained easily. Instead, he indicated that EPIC numbers and biometric verification would form part of the beneficiary identification process.

The remarks drew criticism from Rahul Gandhi and other opposition parties, including the Congress and the CPI(M). They described the proposal as a potential means of excluding eligible citizens from welfare schemes, particularly those whose names had been deleted or flagged during the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Opposition leaders warned that making access to welfare benefits dependent on electoral roll entries could leave millions of people at risk of losing assistance.

Lalan Singh rejects opposition criticism

Singh subsequently accused his critics of misrepresenting his remarks and linking every administrative measure to the SIR exercise.

He maintained that the proposed changes were intended to improve transparency and prevent benefits from being diverted through middlemen.

The debate has brought renewed attention to the question of whether electoral roll details should be used as a criterion for identifying beneficiaries of government welfare programmes.