NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India will start a campaign across Maharashtra to link Voter ID cards with Aadhaar from August 1, said the state’s Chief Election Officer Shrikant Deshpande on Monday.
The aim of this voluntary drive is to establish the identity of electors and authenticate entries in the electoral roll as well as to identify if the same person is registered in more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency, said Deshpande.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court asked Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala to approach the Delhi High Court with his plea challenging the Election Law Amendment Act that enables linking electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna granted liberty to Surjewala to move the High Court.
“Since the PIL petitioner challenges the validity of Section 4 and 5 of the Election Law Amendment Act an efficacious alternate remedy is before the High Court. we grant liberty to move High court under article 226,” the bench said in its order.
The Congress leader, in his plea, said that the linkage of Aadhaar and Voter ID is completely “irrational” because the impugned amendment intends to link two completely distinct documents, the Aadhaar Card being a proof of residency and EPIC/Voter ID being a proof of citizenship.
The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, authorising the linking of Aadhaar with Voter IDs, was passed by the Lok Sabha through a voice vote in December 2021.
(With inputs from agencies)
