Lok Sabha passes electoral reforms bill that links Aadhaar to voter ID

Lok Sabha on Monday passed a bill to link electoral roll data with Aadhaar eco system amid protest by opposition members over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence issue.

The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021, piloted by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, was passed by a voice vote after a brief discussion during which some opposition members demanded that it be referred to a parliamentary panel.

Rejecting the demand, Rijiju said various proposals which are part of the bill have already been suggested and recommended by the Standing Committee of Law and Personnel.

The minister further said that the bill will cleanse the election system.

Lok Sabha was later adjourned for the day amid continuous protest by opposition members.

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.

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.

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.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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