CEC calls meeting with top govt officials to discuss linking of voter cards, Aadhaar

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has convened a meeting with the Union Home Secretary and the legislative secretary to discuss the issue of linking voter identity cards with Aadhaar amid allegations of fudging of electoral rolls data.

The opposition Trinamool Congress said the meeting convened by the Chief Election Commissioner was a “face-saving measure”.

Flagging cases of duplicate voter card numbers allocated to electors in different states, the Trinamool Congress had alleged that the poll authority was fudging voters’ list to help the BJP. Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi had also echoed similar sentiments in the Lok Sabha recently.

Describing duplicate card numbers as a “legacy issue”, the Election Commission has said it will settle the matter in the next three months. It has maintained that duplicate numbers do not mean fake voters. Sources said Kumar would discuss the issue with the Home Secretary, Legislative Secretary and the CEO of UIDAI on Tuesday.

The law allows voluntary seeding of voter rolls with the Aadhaar database. The government has told Parliament that the Aadhaar-voter card seeding exercise was “process driven” and no target or timelines had been given for the proposed linking.

The government has also asserted that the names of those who do not link their Aadhaar details with the voters’ list will not be struck off the electoral rolls.

Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, as amended by the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, provides for the electoral registration officers to require the existing or prospective elector to provide the Aadhaar number for establishing identity on a voluntary basis.