Kharge slams Centre, says Election Laws Bill passed without discussion

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday lashed out at the Centre and said that the Election Laws 2021 amendment bill was passed without any "discussion or debate"; called it "mockery of democracy".

Taking to Twitter, Kharge said, "Modi Govt has passed the Election Laws 2021 amendment bill without any discussion or debate. The bill is in violation of SC Puttaswamy judgement and will lead to mass disenfranchisement. How can it be passed WITHOUT any DISCUSSION or SCRUTINY? It's a mockery of our democracy!"

Meanwhile, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, while speaking with ANI yesterday, had said that the Opposition was asked to participate and voice their opinions in the discussion, but they created chaos.

The Minister, while speaking with ANI, further said that the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill would allow the electoral roll to be linked with Aadhar cards. It will be optional, not mandatory but it will help us to sieve out fake voters.

The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed by the Lok Sabha yesterday.

The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 seeks to allow electoral registration officers to seek the Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters "for the purpose of establishing identity."

The Bill also seeks to allow the electoral registration officers to get Aadhaar numbers from "persons already included in the electoral roll for the purposes of authentication of entries in the electoral roll, and to identify registration of the name of the same person in the electoral roll of more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency.