Lok Sabha passes Bill to link electoral rolls with Aadhaar

 The bill is named The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

New Delhi: A bill to link electoral rolls with the Aadhaar ecosystem to weed out duplication was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday (December 20) amid protest by opposition members over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence issue.

Introducing The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the legislation will end bogus voting in the country and make the electoral process more credible.

The bill seeks to allow electoral registration officers to seek the Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters "for the purpose of establishing the identity".

Dismissing the apprehensions of the opposition on the bill as "baseless", the minister said opposition members were "misinterpreting" the Supreme Court judgement on personal liberty.

"The opposition has not understood the objectives of the bill. This will make the election process more credible," he said.

The minister said the government is attempting to stop bogus voting and that is why the House should support the bill.

"The bill fully qualifies the Supreme Court judgement," he said.

However, the opposition parties led by Congress opposed the bill, saying it will infringe on the fundamental rights of citizens.

Opposing the bill, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury demanded that the bill must be sent to the standing committee concerned for scrutiny.

He claimed that the bill will curb the people's personal liberty.

"We don't have the data protection laws. You can't bulldoze such a bill on people," he said.

Chowdhury's party colleague Manish Tewari said voting is a legal right and it is beyond the legislative competence of the Aadhaar Act to be linked with the electoral laws.

Tiwari also claimed that the bill violates the Supreme Court judgement on Justice (retd) K S Puttaswamy case.

On August 24, 2017, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous verdict in the Justice (retd) K S Puttaswamy case affirming that the Constitution guarantees to each individual a fundamental right to privacy.

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that the bill will suppress people's right to exercise franchise freely.

Opposing the bill, Trinamool Congress member Saugata Roy said the bill goes against the apex court judgement.

BSP's Ritesh Pandey opposed the bill and said that it will curb the rights of the SCs and STs in exercising the franchise freely.

RSP's N K Premchandran said the right to privacy is a fundamental right and linking Aadhaar with the election process will infringe on the rights of the citizens.

Congress member Shashi Tharoor said Aadhaar is meant for the residents of India and all residents are not Indians.

"By linking the Aadhaar with the electoral process, we are potentially giving the voting rights to non-citizens," he said.

Rajendra Agarwal, who was in the chair, accepted the introduction of the bill after taking voice votes.

News is originally taken from: https://zeenews.india.com/india/lok-sabha-passes-bill-to-link-electoral-rolls-with-aadhaar-2421050.html