Why in news
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar has called a meeting to discuss linking voter ID with Aadhaar.
The meeting will include the Union Home Secretary, the Legislative Secretary, and the CEO of UIDAI.
The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.
Triggering Factor: Opposition Allegations:
The meeting follows allegations from the Opposition regarding manipulation of voter lists.
Specifically, the Trinamool Congress raised concerns about duplicate EPIC numbers across different states.
Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders have raised this issue in Parliament.
Congress party also had alleged voter list manipulation during the Maharashtra Assembly election.
Election Commission's Response and Clarifications:
The Election Commission (EC) acknowledged that duplicate EPIC numbers occurred due to manual errors before the ERONET digital platform was implemented.
The EC assured parties that voters with duplicate EPIC numbers in different states could still vote using domicile documents.
The EC had promised to resolve this issue in three months.
Previous Aadhaar-Voter ID Linking Attempts:
The EC initiated the National Electoral Rolls Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP) in 2015 to link Aadhaar with voter IDs.
The Supreme Court intervened, limiting mandatory Aadhaar use to welfare schemes and PAN linking, leading to the discontinuation of NERPAP.
Current Legal Framework:
According to the amended Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, providing Aadhaar for voter ID linking is voluntary.
The government has clarified that not linking Aadhaar will not result in voter ID cancellation.
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