Bill linking Aadhaar cards with voter ID passed in Rajya Sabha amid protests

The Bill seeks to link electoral rolls to the Aadhaar number, allowing electoral registration officers to ask for Aadhaar numbers of applicants wanting to register as voters to establish their identity

Bill linking Aadhaar cards with voter ID passed in Rajya Sabha amid protests

This image has been used for representation purpose

Amid vociferous protests, the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 approximately within an hour of being introduced by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju.

Replying to the debate, the Law Minister said: "It will delete the multiple votes of single person and cleanse the system of the fake voters. The government has deliberated the matter in detail with the Election Commission."

Rijiju said that the Bill will bring important electoral reforms in the country. "We wanted the entire House to participate in the debate but they have been protesting and sloganeering."

He said the Bill, aimed at purifying the electoral process in the country, was brought after wide consultations with the Election Commission and the state governments.

Also read: Amid Opposition protest, Lok Sabha passes Bill linking electoral rolls to Aadhaar via voice vote

It is based on the recommendation of the Standing Committee Report of the Department of Personnel and Training, Law and Justice, consisting of members of all political parties. The protesting members have either not gone through the draft Bill or are deliberately showing ignorance of the new provisions.

The Opposition leaders raised multiple point of order on the procedure of introduction of the Bill, which was rejected by the chair. Anand Sharma of Congress and Derek O' Brien of TMC said the Opposition did not get time to peruse the Bill.

Intervention by BJP Member Sushil Modi who said that Deepender Hooda and Sukhendu Shekar Ray were present in the committee but did not object it which was challanged by Ray.

When the motion to send the Bill to select committee by John Britas and others were negated, he insisted on division, Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, who was on the chair, said that those seeking division should go to the Chair.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels