Aadhaar-EPIC Linkage: A Step Towards Fair Elections
EC’s Decision to Link Aadhaar with EPIC
The Election Commission’s decision to link Aadhaar with Electors Photo Identification Cards (EPIC) is a major move towards ensuring fair and transparent elections. This comes after allegations by the Congress and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi about suspicious voter lists.
What is EPIC?
EPIC is an identification card issued by the Election Commission to Indian citizens for casting their votes in elections. The EPIC number is the voter ID card number.
What is Aadhaar?
Aadhaar is a unique 12-digit number assigned to residents after collecting their biometric data. It is used to authenticate citizens’ identities before accessing public welfare services.
Technical Consultations with UIDAI
The Election Commission has announced that it will begin technical consultations with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for linking Aadhaar with EPIC numbers.
Congress’ Demand for Transparency
The Congress has demanded that the Election Commission make public the entire electoral photo rolls of Maharashtra’s 2024 Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections.
Issue of Registered Voters vs Adult Population
The Congress raised concerns about the number of registered voters (9.7 crore) for the Maharashtra Assembly polls being more than the adult population of the state (9.5 crore).
Abnormal Increase in New Voters
The main charge of the Congress was an abnormal increase in new voters enrolled between the Maharashtra Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, implying that these could be fake, duplicate, or ghost voters.
Welcoming EC’s Decision
The Congress welcomes the Election Commission’s decision to link Aadhaar with EPIC numbers, which can eliminate the problem of ‘one person many voters IDs’ through de-duplication using Aadhaar.
Ensuring Right to Vote
Rahul Gandhi emphasized that the Election Commission must ensure no Indian is deprived of their vote. He also reiterated his earlier demand that the EC should address issues of additions and deletions, starting by publicly sharing the entire electoral photo rolls of the Maharashtra 2024 Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections.
EC’s Clarification on Aadhaar-EPIC Linkage
The Election Commission clarified that the linking of Aadhaar with EPIC would be done as per provisions of Article 326 and sections 23(4), 23(5), and 23(6) of the 1950 Representation of the People Act, and in line with a Supreme Court ruling in 2023.
Mamata Banerjee’s Allegations
This announcement comes days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of colluding with the Election Commission to add fake voters to electoral lists in order to win the recent Assembly elections in Delhi and Maharashtra.
- She accused the BJP of hiring two agencies to allegedly add residents of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana to the voter list in West Bengal.
West Bengal will head for Assembly polls in 2026.
