New Delhi: Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Election Laws Amendment Bill – 2021 on Monday seeks to link electoral rolls to the Aadhaar number. The bill was passed amid the opposition’s strong demand for more consultation on it.

This Election Laws Amendment Bill – 2021 will allowing electoral registration officers to ask for Aadhaar numbers of applicants wanting to register as voters to establish their identity.  Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju in his reply on the debate said that this bill will bring important electoral reforms in the country. We wanted the entire House to participate in the debate but they have been protesting and sloganeering in the House.

He also said that this bill was brought after wide consultations with the EC and also with the State Governments and it will purify the electoral process in the country.

Law and Justice Minister said that the Government has brought the bill after the recommendation of the Standing Committee Report of the Department of Personnel and Training, Law and Justice and consisting of members of all political parties. The protesting members have either not gone through the draft bill or are deliberately showing ignorance of the new provisions.

Law Minister Rijiju informed the house about the bill, voting age was lowered from 21 years to 18 years in 1987 but the qualifying date was kept as January 1^st every year only for getting listed in the voter list, Now, under the new amendment, there will four dates such as January 1^st, April 1^st, July 1^st and October 1^st every year so that the any eligible person can get them enrolled once they attain the age of 18 years.

He appealed to the members to pass the bill unanimously as it was in the interest of the voters and the country. Congress Party floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury debating the bill in the house asked why the Government was in a hurry to bring this bill as many MPs have requested the Government to forward it to a Parliamentary Committee.

DMK member TR Baalu said that this bill needs more public opinion while BSP MP Ritesh Pandey said that this bill needed more consultation. TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said that Law Minister is killing democracy. Opposition members Asaduddin Owaisi and Supriya Sule asked the government to bring a fresh bill after more consultations while RSP MP NK Premchandran told the Chair that they were not even allowed to seek a division on this Bill.