The Election Commission informed the Rajya Sabha, through the Law Ministry, on Thursday that there is no category of “suspicious voters” under the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, when asked whether any such voters had cast their votes in the last Lok Sabha elections.
The reply comes at a time when the EC is conducting a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. One of the reasons cited for the exercise, according to the Commission’s June 24 statement, is the “inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants” over the years.
Responding to a question by Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman on whether it was a fact that “suspicious voters” had voted in the last Lok Sabha elections, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a written reply, said: “The Election Commission of India (ECI) has informed that there is no category of suspicious voters as per the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”
In response to another question posed by RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha, the ECI said—again through Meghwal—that the “linking of Aadhaar with the Election Photo Identity Card has not yet started.” The Commission added that following a 2021 amendment to the RP Act, 1950, it launched a programme to collect Aadhaar numbers of existing and prospective electors on a voluntary basis from August 1, 2022.
This response comes four months after the EC announced that the Aadhaar-linking process would begin soon. In a press release dated March 18, the Commission said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had met the Union Home Secretary, Legislative Secretary, and UIDAI CEO.
“While, as per Article 326 of the Constitution of India, voting rights can only be granted to a citizen of India; the Aadhaar card only establishes the identity of a person. Therefore, it was decided that the linking of EPIC with Aadhaar will be done only as per the provisions of Article 326 of the Constitution, Sections 23(4), 23(5), and 23(6) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and in line with the Supreme Court judgment in WP (Civil) No. 177/2023. Accordingly, technical consultations between UIDAI and the technical experts of the ECI are to begin soon,” the EC press note had said.
