The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed by Rajya Sabha on Tuesday after opposition members staged a walkout.
The bill that seeks to link electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem was cleared by Lok Sabha on Monday. It was passed by a voice vote after a brief discussion in the Lower House. The ‘electoral reforms’ bill was piloted by Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju.
During the discussion, Rijiju said, “There are numerous instances of bogus voters. Earlier we did not have any system in place to weed out bogus voters. Only those who make use of fake voters will oppose the Bill. If one is a genuine voter, then there is no need to oppose the Bill. I request that this revolutionary Bill be supported by all members of the House.”
On Monday, some opposition members demanded that the electoral reforms Bill be referred to a parliamentary panel for scrutiny.
Rijiju had said that various proposals which are part of the electoral reforms Bill have already been suggested and recommended by the Standing Committee of Law and Personnel.
The Congress MPs have moved adjournment notices in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to discuss the Bill linking electoral roll with Aadhaar.
Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari moved an adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha over linking Aadhaar with Voter ID.
“The Lok Sabha on Monday passed ‘The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021’ amid protest by the Opposition parties. The Bill seeks to link electoral rolls with the Aadhaar ecosystem. This will allow the electoral registration officers to seek the Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters for the purpose of establishing the identity,” notice read.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties created and objected to time being allocated to the electoral bill without them being part of the Business Advisory Committee.
