Punjab FM Harpal Cheema slams BJP’s Sanchar Saathi app, calling it a Pegasus-like threat to citizens’ privacy and state sovereignty.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was sharply criticized on Wednesday by Punjab Finance Minister and prominent AAP leader Harpal Singh Cheema for attempting to violate the privacy of the country’s citizens through the Sanchar Saathi App in smartphones .

Speaking at a press conference at the party headquarters, FM Cheema noted that although the BJP has controlled several states and the federal government since 2014, it is steadily eroding the Constitution, which was drafted by Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar and guarantees the enjoyment of personal freedom. He claimed that the BJP has come up with a new ruse to steal privacy and personal information in the modern era.

Cheema described the “Sanchar Saathi” app as a new version of the surveillance program Pegasus and said that it has “attacked the personal liberty of 144 crore people of the country with the app.” “This is, in a way, like a Pegasus-like software; it is merely another name for Pegasus, prepared to spy on the people of the country” , he stated.

The Finance Minister went on to say that the BJP is planning to utilize this instrument to steal personal information and plan how to sway public opinion. Additionally, the BJP intends to provide its crony capitalists access to the stolen data so they can utilize the private information of residents for their own gain. He called it the largest attack on the nation’s citizens’ privacy to date and cautioned that the nation is well aware of the BJP’s malevolent aim and how it intends to abuse the data gathered through this app.

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The Finance Minister also emphasized in the press release the threat of the Center’s infringement on state sovereignty, pointing out that the software totally circumvents state power and threatens the federal system of the country. According to him, it establishes a centralized surveillance system without the involvement of State Police, Cyber Cells, or state-level telecom authorities. According to him, this is an obvious attempt to establish a single, central monopoly over the private data of the country.

Cheema also expressed worries about the possibility of political abuse, claiming that by recording and identifying contact numbers during elections and protests, the app might be used as a tool for political surveillance. He noted that the Center can monitor anything through this technology, including calls, SIM linking, WhatsApp, and Signal—surveillance techniques that are usually reserved for authoritarian governments.

Given that India already has one of the highest rates of data leaks worldwide, Cheema also voiced concern about the serious cybersecurity threat. He mentioned earlier instances of data leaks from PM-Kisan, CoWIN, and Aadhaar in which no official was held responsible. He cautioned that Sanchar Saathi presents a constant cybersecurity risk due to its inadequate security measures.

Additionally, the Finance Minister emphasized that a new Pegasus model is represented by the centralized storage of sensitive data. This application lays the groundwork for a centralized system similar to Pegasus that may be abused by any government organization. Cheema stated that the Aam Aadmi Party is adamantly opposed to the BJP’s upcoming attack on the country’s privacy, which is why numerous digital rights experts have called this action “digital authoritarianism.”