Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Dec.20: Despite opposition parties’ protests, the Centre introduced the Election Laws (Amendment Bill) 2021 on Monday to link voter ID and Aadhaar cards.
While denying opposition MPs’ claims that the Bill would violate individuals’ fundamental rights, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that the Amendment was simply intended to prevent fake and fraudulent voting.
Rijiju introduced the bill amidst MPs from the Congress, DMK, and TMC standing in the Well of the House shouting anti-government slogans. While the DMK and Congress members protested the detention of 55 Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy, the TMC and some Congress members requested that Union Minister Ajay Mishra be fired for his son’s role in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.
“The Bill is outside the legislative competence of the House as it violates the limits on legislation set by the Supreme Court in its judgment (Puttaswamy vs Union of India),” Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.
His party colleague Manish Tiwari added, “The linking of voter IDs and Aadhaar violates the fundamental right to privacy as defined by the Supreme Court in the judgment.”
While noting that the Data Protection Law has yet to be enacted, Chowdhury suggested that the Bill be sent to the standing committee.
In an attempt to explain the Bill’s motivation, the Law Minister said that the Opposition MPs had misconstrued the Supreme Court’s decision.
If the Bill becomes law, Asaduddin Owaisi, an AIMIM MP, believes the government will be able to use the details to “disenfranchise some people and profile citizens.”
“Aadhar is for residents, but citizens have the right to vote,” TMC MP Saugato Ray stated. Ritesh Pandey of the BSP also opposed the Bill’s introduction.
The right to privacy is a basic right, according to N K Premachandran, and the Parliament cannot enact legislation that restricts it. Shashi Tharoor also questioned whether the measure will grant non-citizens voting rights because Aadhaar is merely a proof of domicile.
Because of the disruptions, the Speaker had to adjourn the question hour at 11.45 p.m. to 12 p.m.
According to the statement of objects and reasons, the Bill aims to “curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person in different places”. The qualifying dates in relation to the preparation or revision of electoral rolls will be first days of January, April, July and October once the Bill becomes an act. “The Amendment of the Section 20 of the Representation of the People’s Act 1950 and Section 60 of the RP Act 1951 for substitution of the word “wide” with the word “spouse” making the statues gender neutral,” it added.
