Delhi: Opposition is up in arms against the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 passed in the both Houses of Parliament. The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 will now require linking of Aadhaar Card to a Voter ID card, which means while registering as a voter you would be asked to produce your Aadhaar card.
The Opposition has said that the government should have convinced the House in its introduction stage itself and demanded that the Bill should be reviewed. They alleged that the government, not heeding to their demand for a debate, got it hurriedly passed in the Lok Sabha, where it enjoys the majority. The government also got the Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha as well.
Let us examine the government's clarification on the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021?
Also read: Linking Aadhaar with electoral roll will clean voters list of multiple enrolment: Govt sources
The government has assured that no application will be rejected if a person does not have an Aadhaar number, a concern raised by the opposition. The government says that linking will help end the problem of multiple enrollments of the same person. Whenever one shifts to another place, a voter can register without deleting the older one.
Once the Aadhaar is linked to the voter ID card, the electoral roll data system will instantly alert, if a person already enrolled somewhere else, and applies for fresh registration. Therefore, this will help the authorities to keep the electoral rolls updated.
The government is also of the view that linking Aadhaar with the voter I-card will wipe out fake voters thus making the election process more credible.
Opposition demands that the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 be sent to the Standing Committee, but the government seems to be in no mood to oblige and wants to get it through in the remaining three days of the current session.
