E-Paper
No ‘suspicious voters’ category under law, EC tells Rajya Sabha
The Election Commission of India clarified there are no "suspicious voters" under the Representation of People Act amid Bihar's electoral roll revision.
Amid the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha, through the law ministry, that there is no separate category of “suspicious voters” under the Representation of People Act, 1951.
In a written response to a query raised by Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman on whether electors classified as “suspicious” had cast votes in the 2024 general elections, the Union minister of state for law and justice Arjun Ram Meghawal said, “The Election Commission of India (ECI) has informed that there is no category of suspicious voters as per the Representation of People Act, 1951.”
The poll body’s clarification comes amid concerns raised over the SIR exercise in Bihar, which started on June 24. ECI had cited the inclusion of “foreign illegal immigrants” in the electoral rolls as one of the reasons for conducting the revision, alongside other factors like rapid urbanisation and migration.
ECI also pointed out that during the revision process, illegal immigrants from countries such as Nepal, Myanmar, and Bangladesh had been identified.
In a separate response to a question by RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha who inquired about the status of Aadhaar-Voter ID linkage and related discrepancies, Meghwal confirmed that the linking process has not yet commenced.
He said, “The Election Commission vide its instruction dated 4th July, 2022, has launched the programme to collect the Aadhaar number of existing and prospective electors on a voluntary basis from 1st August, 2022, in all States and Union territories. The linking of Aadhaar with Election Photo Identity Card has not yet started.”
Further clarifying the legal position, Meghwal stated that the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, allows Electoral Registration Officers (ELOs) to request voters to voluntarily provide their Aadhaar numbers for linking with their voter ID cards. He added that the linkage process is still pending.
Due to the delay in the Aadhaar-Voter ID linkage, the poll body mentioned that Jha’s other questions regarding the number of voters whose Aadhaar details were mismatched or who were removed from the voter list did not arise.
