Will linking Aadhar to the Electoral role solve multiple enrolments of the same person?

On December 20, the government passed a bill in the Lok Sabha which would bring several reforms in the voting process in India. The bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha for discussion on December 21 and despite opposition from Congress and other parties, it was passed and now the President’s assent remains the only formality.

The proposed law has become another issue on which the government and the opposition have locked horns. While the government says that the new law will avoid duplication of names in the voter list of an individual, the opposition like the Congress and Trinamool Congress opposed this move as a useless exercise that will not serve any purpose.

Highlighting the government’s point of view, a senior party leader told The National Bulletin, “The reform will eliminate fake voters from the voting list. It will also remove duplication of names. Often it happens that a person who lives in A area, moves to B locality.”

He adds, “He is already registered at A place and then when he moves to B, he gets himself as an eligible voter at B place also. Due to this reason, there are huge such cases in which people have registered their names in multiple places.”

The government argues that after the linking of Aadhar with the voter’s ID of an individual, it is not possible to continue to have names at multiple places.

“This is going to eliminate the fake voter and duplication. But since the opposition has nothing to oppose, they are crying foul without any reason,” another BJP leader said.