Union Minister for Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh announced earlier that welfare payments will hence be made in accordance with Voter ID cards and no longer
Aadhaar cards. He said voter identity cards, along with biometric authentication, will be the basis for identifying beneficiaries and processing payments for welfare schemes within the ambit of the Panchayati Raj Ministry. He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of an event at the Sikkim Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited in Gangtok. He had made this remark earlier on Friday during a day-long workshop organised by his Ministry on the “People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) 2026-27” in Delhi. His remarks come amid the Opposition’s sustained campaign on “vote chori” (vote theft), alleging wrongful deletions from the electoral rolls. “Aadhaar is currently the basis for payments to beneficiaries, but it will no longer be considered the primary means of identification,” Mr. Singh said. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's dare to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a debate following the "vote chori" protest movement, has turned into a bitter political scuffle. Taking to social media, several BJP MPs and Ministers have called out Gandhi for his challenge, while Union Minister Kiren Rijiju's remark has drawn ire from Congress MP Manickam Tagore, who called it "language of the gutter." Rijiju, replying to Rahul Gandhi- compared the LoP's challenge to "separatists" and "islamic fundamentalists." In his post on X, Rijiju wrote, "it's same as islamic fundamentalists talking about secularism, separatists holding Indian flags & anarchists showing Constitution book. Pushing agendas of India's enemies yet accusing others of foreign support is self-ridiculing." Responding to the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Tagore launched a blazing attack. Tagore called it "language of the gutter" and condemned the slander faced by the Leader of Opposition. He accused the Minister of "abusing" the LoP and noted that former Prime Ministers Indira and Rajiv Gandhi- "who bled for the nation"- were insulted by Rijiju's comments.
