Meanwhile, in response to a separate set of questions raised by RJD MP Manoj Jha, the Minister, quoting the ECI, stated that the “linking of Aadhaar with the Election Photo Identity Card has not yet started.”He said that following a 2021 amendment to the RP Act, 1950, the Commission had launched a programme to collect Aadhaar numbers of existing and prospective electors on a voluntary basis from 1 August 2022.The response comes in the context of the ECI’s recent announcement that the Aadhaar-linking process would commence soon. In an official statement issued in March this year, the Commission said that 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 ECI had then said.
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