Congress on Monday along with other Opposition parties opposed the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in Lok sabha, The Bill seeks to link electoral rolls with the Aadhaar ecosystem to weed out duplication.

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that Aadhaar is only meant to be a proof of residence and not citizenship and asked the Centre if it intends to give voting rights to non-citizens.

“Aadhaar only meant to be proof of residence, it’s not proof of citizenship. If you’re in a position asking Aadhaar for voters, all you’re getting is a document that reflects residence, not citizenship. You’re potentially giving the vote to non-citizens,” ANI quoted Tharoor as saying in the Lok Sabha.

Introducing the Bill, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju earlier said that the legislation will end bogus voting in the country and make the electoral process more credible.

However, opposition parties led by Congress opposed the bill, saying it will infringe the fundamental rights of citizens. They also alleged that the bill will violate the Supreme Court judgment on Aadhaar.

Earlier today, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi submitted a notice in Lok Sabha “to oppose Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 which proposes to link Aadhaar to electoral roll enrolment.”

“The Bill is outside the legislative competence of the House as it violates the limits on legislation set by the Supreme Court in its judgment. The linking of voter IDs and AADHAAR violates the fundamental right to privacy as defined by Supreme Court in its judgment. The House is not competent to enact a law that violates the fundamental rights of citizens,” he said in his letter to the Secretary-General Lok Sabha.