Amid the continuing particular intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, the Election Fee of India (ECI) on Thursday knowledgeable the Rajya Sabha, by way of the legislation ministry, that there isn’t any separate class of “suspicious voters” underneath the Illustration of Folks Act, 1951.
In a written response to a question raised by Samajwadi Occasion MP Ramji Lal Suman on whether or not electors categorized as “suspicious” had solid votes within the 2024 basic elections, the Union minister of state for legislation and justice Arjun Ram Meghawal stated, “The Election Fee of India (ECI) has knowledgeable that there isn’t any class of suspicious voters as per the Illustration of Folks Act, 1951.”
The ballot physique’s clarification comes amid considerations raised over the SIR train in Bihar, which began on June 24. ECI had cited the inclusion of “international unlawful immigrants” within the electoral rolls as one of many causes for conducting the revision, alongside different components like fast urbanisation and migration.
ECI additionally identified that in the course of the revision course of, unlawful immigrants from nations equivalent to Nepal, Myanmar, and Bangladesh had been recognized.
In a separate response to a query by RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha who inquired concerning the standing of Aadhaar-Voter ID linkage and associated discrepancies, Meghwal confirmed that the linking course of has not but commenced.
He stated, “The Election Fee vide its instruction dated 4th July, 2022, has launched the programme to gather the Aadhaar variety of present and potential electors on a voluntary foundation from 1st August, 2022, in all States and Union territories. The linking of Aadhaar with Election Photograph Identification Card has not but began.”
Additional clarifying the authorized place, Meghwal said that the Election Legal guidelines (Modification) Act, 2021, permits Electoral Registration Officers (ELOs) to request voters to voluntarily present their Aadhaar numbers for linking with their voter ID playing cards. He added that the linkage course of continues to be pending.
As a result of delay within the Aadhaar-Voter ID linkage, the ballot physique talked about that Jha’s different questions relating to the variety of voters whose Aadhaar particulars had been mismatched or who had been faraway from the voter checklist didn’t come up.
