Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema slams BJP's 'Sanchar Saathi' App as new Pegasus model

Chandigarh, December 3, 2025: Punjab Finance Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema, on Wednesday launched a sharp critique against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its attempt to attack the privacy of the nation’s people through the mobile app named ‘Sanchar Saathi.’
 
Addressing a press conference here at party head office, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema pointed out that the BJP has been in power at the Centre since 2014 and governs various states across the country, yet it is continuously dismantling the Constitution, step by step, which was established by Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar and ensures the enjoyment of personal freedom. He said that a new ploy by the BJP has surfaced, a strategy to steal personal data and privacy in the modern age.
 
"The Central Government has assaulted the personal liberty of 144 crore people of the country with the 'Sanchar Saathi' app," said Cheema while labelling the application as a new variant of surveillance software, Pegasus. "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 added.
 
The Finance Minister further added that the BJP is preparing to use this tool to steal private data and strategise how to influence citizens. Moreover, the BJP plans to provide this stolen data to its crony capitalists so they can use citizens' personal information for their own benefit. He warned that the country is well aware of the BJP's malicious intent and how it plans to misuse the data collected through this app, terming it the biggest attack on the privacy of the country's people to date. 
 
In the press communiqué, the Finance Minister also highlighted the danger of the Centre’s encroachment on states' rights, noting that the app completely bypasses the authority of the states, posing a threat to the nation’s federal structure. He said that it introduces a centralised surveillance system without involving State Police, Cyber Cells, or state-level regulators of the telecom sector. He said that this is a clear attempt to create a unified central monopoly over the nation’s private information.
 
Furthermore, Cheema raised concerns about the risk of political misuse, stating that the app could become a weapon for political surveillance by identifying and tracking contact numbers during elections and protests. He pointed out that this system creates a pathway for the Centre to monitor everything, including WhatsApp, Signal, calls, and SIM linking, which are surveillance tactics typically only found in authoritarian regimes.
 
Finance Minister Cheema also expressed alarm over the significant cybersecurity risk, as India is already one of the countries with the highest data leaks globally. He cited previous incidents involving Aadhaar, CoWIN, and PM-Kisan data leaks, where no official was held accountable. He warned that Sanchar Saathi, with its weak security mechanisms, poses an unending cybersecurity risk.
 
The Finance Minister also stressed that the centralised storage of sensitive data constitutes a new Pegasus model. “This app establishes the foundation for a mass surveillance infrastructure, a centralised system like Pegasus, that can be misused by any government agency. This is why many digital rights experts have labelled this move as "digital authoritarianism", said Harpal Singh Cheema, while adding that the Aam Aadmi Party strongly opposes this impending assault by the BJP on the nation’s privacy.