32 crore voter IDs linked to Aadhaar, EC keen on seeding rest
DH News Service, Bengaluru, Mar 10 2018, 18:17 IST
As many as 32 crore Aadhaar numbers have been linked to voter ID cards.
The Election Commision is keen on seeding voter identity cards with Aadhaar number with the poll authority processing 32 crore cards and requesting the Supreme Court nod to seed the remaining 54.5 crore cards.
Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat said seeding process will resume once the Supreme Court gives permission. He was speaking at the 14th annual conference on ‘Electoral and Political Reforms’ organised by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Karnataka Election Watch.
“The seeding process was stopped after a petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Aadhaar,” Rawat said and added it won’t take long to complete the process if the court gives the nod since the 32 crore Electoral Photo Identity Cards were linked to Aadhaar in three months.
Rawat said biometric identification will curb voter duplication and double voting, helping the commission in bringing transparency in the electoral process.
Mum on state poll date
The CEC remained mum on questions regarding Karnataka election dates and advised the media to be patient. He also chose not to commit to the reports that the dates will be announced around April 15. “If whatever I have talked in an interview is interpreted in a different way, one can’t really help that,” he said.
Earlier, Rawat spoke on the urgent reforms needed in the election process. He noted that the poll commission should be empowered to deregister the parties.
"Many political parties get registered but never contest an election and exit only on paper, perhaps with an eye on availing the income tax exemption. To prevent proliferation of such parties, the commission has also proposed that IT exemption should be available only to parties that contest elections and win seats in Parliament or legislative assemblies," he said.
Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat said seeding process will resume once the Supreme Court gives permission. He was speaking at the 14th annual conference on ‘Electoral and Political Reforms’ organised by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Karnataka Election Watch.
“The seeding process was stopped after a petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Aadhaar,” Rawat said and added it won’t take long to complete the process if the court gives the nod since the 32 crore Electoral Photo Identity Cards were linked to Aadhaar in three months.
Rawat said biometric identification will curb voter duplication and double voting, helping the commission in bringing transparency in the electoral process.
Mum on state poll date
The CEC remained mum on questions regarding Karnataka election dates and advised the media to be patient. He also chose not to commit to the reports that the dates will be announced around April 15. “If whatever I have talked in an interview is interpreted in a different way, one can’t really help that,” he said.
Earlier, Rawat spoke on the urgent reforms needed in the election process. He noted that the poll commission should be empowered to deregister the parties.
"Many political parties get registered but never contest an election and exit only on paper, perhaps with an eye on availing the income tax exemption. To prevent proliferation of such parties, the commission has also proposed that IT exemption should be available only to parties that contest elections and win seats in Parliament or legislative assemblies," he said.
