Bill to link Aadhaar to voter ID passed in Lok Sabha

Despite opposition and raising of concerns by the opposition parties, the Election Laws Bill, 2021 was passed in the Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to link Aadhaar card to the voter identity card.

Opposition members of the Lok Sabha strongly opposed the Bill and demanded that the Government withdraw it.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of Congress opposed the Bill and demanded that the Bill be referred to the Standing Committee concerned, for scrutiny. He said that the amendment is an infringement of the Fundamental Right of Privacy as enunciated by the Supreme Court. Chowdhury stated that the move to link Aadhaar to election identity card would disenfranchise thousands of voters, hence he sought that the Bill should be referred to the Standing Committee.

Manish Tewari, also of the Congress said that the Aadhaar Act does not allow for the linking of Aadhaar with the electoral roll. He added that the explicit Act is for the targeted delivery of financial and other subsidy benefits and services. He said that the Bill is beyond the legislative competence of the House and violates the limits on legislation set by the Supreme Court in the Puttuswamy case. Tewari also said that the linking would violate the Fundamental Right of Privacy.

Lok Sabha members from the Trinamool Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party and Revolutionary Socialist Party were among those who opposed the Bill.

According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill, it provides for amendment of section 23 of the Representation of People’s (RP) Act, 1950, enabling for the linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem to curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person in different places.

It also seeks to amend clause (b) of section 14 of the RP Act, 1950 specifying the 1st day of January, 1st day of April, 1st day of July and 1st day of October in a calendar year as qualifying dates in relation to the preparation or revision of electoral rolls.

Meanwhile, the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M] has strongly condemned “the manner in which important changes in the electoral laws, which have far-reaching consequences, has been rushed through the Lok Sabha and passed in a din.

A statement by the Polit Bureau said, “Members of Parliament were not given time for discussion. Most importantly, MPs were not allowed to move any amendments, which is a gross violation of parliamentary norms and procedures.  In the morning, the discussion was for sending it to a Parliamentary Select Committee for a thorough examination. Abandoning this decision, the government issued supplementary agenda post-lunch and rushed through the Bill.

This Bill has the danger of violating both secrecy of the vote undermining the principle of secret ballot and the fundamental right to privacy of the voter.”

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau has appealed to opposition parties to resolutely resist this Bill from being bulldozed in the Rajya Sabha now and demand its thorough examination by a Select Committee.