Poonam Sharma
Today, the Election Commission of India has released a notice, and in this release, it was mentioned that the Election Commission is fully active and working towards linking Aadhaar cards (photo identity cards) with other forms of photo IDs. They have already had meetings with their officials regarding this and are now working with the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) to link all photo identity cards with Aadhaar.
It has been clarified further that a decision was made many years ago within the Election Commission of India, and they had made a commitment that no one would be forced to link their Aadhaar card with their voter ID if they did not wish to. This commitment was made to the Supreme Court. Based on this commitment, and under Article 326, which mandates that the Election Commission ensures the authenticity of electoral rolls and voter verification, the Commission is responsible for ensuring that illegal immigrants, duplicate voters, and people with fake IDs do not cast votes.
Now,if we see who is going to suffer the most? We know that a bill is being introduced against illegal immigration, called the “Foreigners Bill.” This is now happening. If we look at these two things together, it’s necessary to consider not just combining them but also seeing if what is happening in the country has any relation to this. Suddenly, the operation to become vocal is happening. Along with that, there is the sudden mandate to link Aadhaar and photo ID. There is certainly a significant connection because, for a long time, I have been saying that certain communities tend to exaggerate their population numbers, and exaggerating population numbers gives them several benefits. Therefore, if you observe, if a community’s population suddenly increases by 5% over 70 years and the number of people grows by several times, it definitely raises doubts. This raises questions regarding whether the increase is legitimate or whether it is artificially inflated. I have often seen examples, such as in Jammu, where the population of Kashmir suddenly increased in 2011. In Jammu, the natural patterns would have shown a slightly higher population in Kashmir, but even according to those, this population increase wouldn’t have been possible. The parties in Jammu and Kashmir opposed this. When delimitation happened, even petitions were filed by all the parties in Jammu, including Congress and BJP. However, due to political appeasement, no consensus was reached, and delimitation was delayed. As a result, Kashmir’s population still remains much lower than Jammu’s. Similarly, if we consider the situation now, it is not just about the base of Aadhaar; it is also a crucial factor in enabling easier solutions to many problems. Therefore, when you need to get anything done, the first thing you will be asked for is your Aadhaar card. Whether it is opening a bank account or getting another card, Aadhaar is required for almost everything.
My prediction is that the population of a specific community could decrease by at least 2,00,00,000 people. The reasons are twofold: firstly, in some regions, people have taken advantage of voting opportunities, especially in places like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, where they are allowed to vote from multiple locations. This issue has been raised in Assam as well, where there has been chaos regarding the use of fake Aadhaar cards. If many fake Aadhaar cards are shared, and if those cards are used to create election IDs, a proper check on Aadhaar cards will reveal who is using multiple IDs and who is not.
If people do not want to provide their IDs, who will handle this? This is where problems arise, and these issues are being discussed. In this context, Rahul Gandhi is also saying that in Maharashtra, they played a major role in election-related work. He says that having Aadhaar linked with election cards will help verify that the voter IDs are legitimate. He also suggests that all political parties should ensure that this verification process is followed to clean up the system and prevent fraud.
What can be inferred is thus , this will pave the way for eliminating the fraud related to election voting cards, but there are still challenges to overcome, especially with people using fake IDs. However, this path will clean up the system and ensure more transparency. With Aadhaar cards, the process of verification will become more secure, and issues related to fraudulent voting will significantly reduce. The population of specific communities is expected to decrease by around 2,00,00,000 people as a result of this process.
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