New Delhi, Nov 6 (PTI) Only 11,272 foreign nationals in India have Aadhaar, Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale said on Thursday, quoting the UIDAI's data, as he attacked Union Home Minister Amit Shah for allegedly claiming that a huge number of foreigners had the document.

In a post on X, Gokhale shared a copy of a reply given by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar to his letter in which he had asked number of Aadhaar issued to foreign nationals.

"I wrote to UIDAI asking how many Aadhaar cards in India have been issued to foreign nationals. The answer? Only 11,272 foreigners," Gokhale said in his post.

"Over the last year, HM Amit Shah and BJP have been claiming that a huge number of illegal foreign migrants have been issued Aadhaar cards in India. It is important to note that Aadhaar cards are issued by the UIDAI under the Modi Govt and not state govts," he said.

He said if the UIDAI knows that only 11,272 foreigners have Aadhaar cards, it is clear that the rest are Indian citizens.

"In that case, why is the ECI claiming that Aadhaar can not be accepted as proof of citizenship?" he asked.

The Election Commission of India had initially excluded Aadhaar as a proof of identity for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, saying it was not a proof of citizenship.

But after a direction of the Supreme Court, the poll panel included it as the 12th document in the indicative list.

"ECI started accepting Aadhaar for the SIR (Silent Invisible Rigging) exercise only after being ordered by the Supreme Court," Gokhale said.

The Rajya Sabha member also slammed Shah for claiming that "millions of foreign migrants" had Aadhaar cards.

"If the UIDAI knows the number of foreigners holding Aadhaar cards, why has Amit Shah falsely claimed that there are millions of foreign migrants holding Aadhaar?" the TMC leader asked.

Replying to the debate on the Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025, in Lok Sabha in March this year, Shah accused the TMC, which rules West Bengal, and Congress, which once governed Assam, of allowing Rohingyas and Bangladeshis to enter India, and issuing them Aadhaar and voter cards.

It takes "10 seconds" to detect a fake Aadhaar as it is linked to biometrics, Gokhale said.

"A quick scan of the QR code on an Aadhaar can show if it's fake. Why then does Amit Shah claim there are fake Aadhaars being used?" he said.

The lawmaker said that out of 142 crore Aadhaar that exist in India, the number of them issued to foreign nationals comes down to only 0.007 per cent.

"It is clear that ECI is conducting a backdoor NRC using the excuse of SIR... The ECI is using SIR (Silent Invisible Rigging) to delete voters and snatch away the citizenship of average Indians who don't vote for BJP," he alleged.

The SIR exercise commenced in West Bengal on November 4 and faced stiff resistance from the TMC, with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee taking out a rally against it in Kolkata on the same day.

The UIDAI CEO, in his reply to Gokhale, said The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, defines a resident as an individual who has resided in India for a period or periods amounting in all to one hundred and eighty-two days or more in the twelve months immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment.

It said foreign nationals satisfying the criteria are entitled to Aadhaar, which may be used by them to establish identity for purposes such as issuance of a mobile number and opening of bank accounts.

It said a total of 11,272 Aadhaar numbers have been issued under the category of "resident foreigners" till date, and limited validity Aadhaar are issued to resident foreigners, with validity co-terminus with their visa.

Overseas Citizens of India are issued an Aadhaar with a validity of ten years. PTI AO VN VN

Aadhaar issuance to foreign nationals clarified; limited-validity enrolment and UIDAI data challenge claims of widespread foreign Aadhaar. Aadhaar issuance to non-citizens is governed by the Aadhaar Act's residency test (182 days in the prior twelve months); resident foreigners meeting that test may receive Aadhaar, typically issued with limited validity Aadhaar co-terminous with their visa, while Overseas Citizens of India receive ten-year Aadhaar. UIDAI data show only a small number of Aadhaar issued to resident foreigners, and biometric/QR verification is cited to address claims about fake or widespread foreign Aadhaar enrolment and the use of Aadhaar in electoral roll revision.