Aadhaar-Voter ID linkage: Why Asaduddin Owaisi calls it absurd
The Election Laws (Amendment), Bill 2021, which proposes to link Aadhaar data to electoral roll enrolment violates the fundamental right to privacy, says the AIMIM chief
FollowThe Election Laws (Amendment), Bill 2021, which proposes to link Aadhaar data to electoral roll enrolment violates the fundamental right to privacy, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen President Asaduddin Owaisi said on Monday. The new Bill allows electoral registration officers to establish the identity of individuals who want to register as voters by seeking their Aadhaar numbers.
Submitting a notice to Lok Sabha secretary-general, Owaisi highlighted that the Bill, which is to be introduced by the government on Monday, proposes to make Aadhaar authentication mandatory. This, according to him, violates the Supreme Court order that limited the use of Aadhaar to welfare schemes. Further, subjecting voter enrollment to Aadhaar violates the independence and sanctity of the constitutional process as the responsibility of issuing voter IDs is carried out in pursuance of a constitutional purpose (elections) by an independent body (Election Commission), the AIMIM chief said.
Further, he warned that linking voter IDs and Aadhaar could harm national security and individual privacy. Justifying the statement, Owaisi noted that such exercises in states had resulted in large-scale exclusions and that it will also allow governments in power to suppress, disenfranchise, profile voters and discriminate between beneficiaries of government schemes.
It will also lead to violation of the principles of secret voting, universal adult franchise and free and fair elections, Owaisi said.
Another reason why Owaisi said he was against the Bill was that using an inferior and exclusionary identity project like Aadhaar to authenticate a simple and inclusive voter ID card is absurd. Stating that the Aadhaar database was riddled with more errors than in the Electors Photo Identity Card database, Owaisi wondered how an insecure and flaw-prone database could be used to authenticate a relatively secure and frequently updated database.
