aadhaar-alone-not-enough-for-voter-roll-asserts-bjp

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday accused the Opposition of “peddling propaganda” on the use of Aadhaar in Bihar’s electoral roll revision, clarifying that the Supreme Court had not recognised it as a standalone document for voter enrolment.

 

Amit Malviya, head of the party’s IT department, said, “Aadhaar is only proof of identity and residence and it does not establish citizenship. Nowhere in the judgment did the Supreme Court even suggest that it should be used as a valid document for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).”

 

The apex court had recently observed that voters left out of the ongoing SIR process in Bihar could submit Aadhaar along with other documents to reclaim their names. Malviya insisted the ruling was merely clarificatory and not a substantive endorsement of Aadhaar as a citizenship marker.

 

He warned, “Asking the Election Commission to include Aadhaar as a document for automatic voter enrolment would render Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act and the Aadhaar Act meaningless. In fact, this very bench, on August 12, held that Aadhaar is not a legal document to prove citizenship.”

Also read: SC to EC on Bihar SIR: Accept 11 documents or Aadhaar for voters

 

The Election Commission has defended the SIR, stating that it strengthens the electoral process by “weeding out ineligible persons”. Its affidavit noted that Aadhaar, voter ID, and ration card are being considered only for establishing identity during the revision, not for proving citizenship.

 

Slamming the Opposition’s claims, Malviya said: “The truth is simple: SIR is intact, Aadhaar alone cannot get you enrolled, dead, fake, Bangladeshi and Rohingya names will be removed and only Indian citizens will elect the next government — not foreigners.”

 

He also asserted that of the 65 lakh names struck off the draft voter roll in Bihar, most belonged to “fake, dead, Bangladeshi and Rohingya entries”. Only 84,305 objections had been received, a mere 1.3 per cent of deletions, which he described as “well below the standard margin of error”.

 

“Clearly, the ‘vote chori’ cry is manufactured,” he remarked.