Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 27 (NationPress) Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of facilitating a significant breach involving the personal information of over one crore citizens for purported electoral advantages. On Friday, he called for the Chief Minister's immediate resignation.

Chennithala claimed that sensitive, government-verified personal information—including phone numbers, age, gender, district, ward, and local body details—of approximately eight lakh state government employees, 72 lakh welfare pensioners, three lakh small business owners, and numerous women enrolled in the Women’s Safety Scheme were improperly accessed and shared with private entities without authorization.

Releasing documents, including letters allegedly from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), he asserted that sensitive data from the K-SMART database and other governmental platforms was directed to be transferred to selected individuals associated with the IT Mission, operating from the CMO.

He highlighted that this data was subsequently utilized to send WhatsApp messages to nearly one crore people between February 19 and 21 via a business account linked to the Chief Minister’s Office.

Chennithala described this action as entirely illegal and unconstitutional, asserting it represented a serious breach of privacy.

He emphasized that the alleged data transfer contravened the landmark 2017 Supreme Court ruling in the Justice K.S. Puttaswamy case, which affirmed privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Moreover, he argued that the provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, particularly those concerning consent-based data processing, were violated.

Drawing parallels with the contentious Sprinklr data-sharing incident during the COVID-19 pandemic, he claimed the current situation mirrored a similar trend of transferring citizen data without sufficient safeguards, this time for political motives.

Chennithala also expressed concerns regarding a recent government directive that empaneled various private agencies to enhance IT operations weeks ahead of elections, labeling the timing as highly suspicious.

He warned that such data exposure could lead to cyber fraud and misuse, especially targeting vulnerable women and pensioners, and demanded a thorough inquiry along with criminal action against those culpable.

The Chief Minister’s Office has yet to officially respond to these allegations, which are likely to escalate the political tension as the Assembly elections approach.