A Bill to link electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem was passed by Parliament on Tuesday with the Rajya Sabha approving it amid a walkout by the Opposition and high drama when Derek O'Brien flung a rulebook at the reporters' table after which the Trinamool Congress MP was suspended from the House for 'unruly behaviour'.
Rejecting the opposition criticism of the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that seeks to weed out fake voters from electoral rolls, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in our democracy, the electoral process should be cleansed and that can happen only if the electoral rolls are clean.
The bill, which was approved by voice vote, was cleared by the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Calling the Electoral reforms bill as 'very good' and a 'revolutionary' step, Rijiju also said the linking of electoral rolls to the Aadhaar number is only voluntary and not compulsory, adding it will help end fake and bogus voting and make the electoral process credible.
Sources in the government, meanwhile, said the move would solve a 'major problem' of multiple enrolment of a person at different places and help in 'cleaning' the voters' list to a great extent.
The government sources said the Bill incorporates various electoral reforms which have been discussed for a long time, and shared a 2018 statement of the Election Commission(EC) following a meeting of all recognised national and regional parties on various electoral reforms.
'Political parties urged the commission to link Aadhaar numbers with electors' detail for better electoral roll management,' the EC had said.
The Bill seeks to allow electoral registration officers to seek Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters 'for the purpose of establishing the identity'.
At the same time, the amendment bill makes it clear that 'no application for inclusion of name in the electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in the electoral roll shall be deleted for inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number due to such sufficient cause as may be prescribed'.
The Bill was passed after an hour-long discussion with members of several parties supporting the bill though some concerns were voiced.
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Janata Dal-United, the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Biju Janata Dal, the Telugu Desam Party and the Tamil Maanila Congress-Moopanar said it will help in eradicating duplicate and fake voters from electoral rolls, and termed it as a far-reaching electoral reform.
The discussion continued amid protests by opposition members who were in the well throughout raising slogans.
They later staged a walkout as their demand for sending the Bill to a Select Committee was rejected.
Members of the Congress, the TMC, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Communist Party of India, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party walked out from the House in protest.
They earlier opposed the Bill saying it infringes on voters' right to privacy and goes against the Supreme Court judgment.
"This Bill will be opposed only by those who take advantage of fake voting. Otherwise, there is no basis for opposing this Bill," Rijiju said, adding that new and genuine voters will never forgive them for doing so.
The country has understood the necessity of this electoral reform Bill, he said.
The opposition parties demanded a division of votes as they had moved a motion to send the Bill to a select committee, which was rejected by voice vote.
O'Brien cited rules for a division of votes even as Deputy Chairman Harivansh urged members to go to their seats to enable this process. However, opposition members continued to raise slogans in the well of the House.
"...we have all the regards for the rules but the same thing you did on the farm laws you are doing today," O'Brien said as he threw the Rajya Sabha rule book towards the Chair and announced a walkout from the House.
The book fell on the table where officials sit along with the Secretary General.
Ruling party members strongly condemned the TMC leader's act with Leader of the House Piyush Goyal saying it is not only an insult of the chair or the secretary general or the table or the House but an insult to the entire country.
O'Brien was later suspended for the remainder of the Winter session for his unruly behaviour, after a motion by the government in this regard was passed unanimously. Parliament is due to adjourn on Thursday.
The bill was subsequently passed with a voice vote.
Later, Sasmit Patra, who was in the Chair said, "Honourable members, I would like to invite the attention of all of you to the gross misconduct of TMC floor leader Derek O'Brien in this august House a little earlier. Derek O'Brien raised some point of order to which honourable deputy chairman has duly responded."
"A little later Derek O'Brien flung the rule book furiously in the direction of the Chair. The rule book would have hit the chair, or secretary general or officials sitting at the table," Patra said.
He further said the TMC leader has resorted to grave misconduct and gross violation of the rules of the House and norms of etiquette and conduct.
"Being a floor leader, Derek O'Brien, instead of setting high standards of conduct in the House, set a bad example and in the process denigrated the dignity and stature of this august House. This act of Derek O'Brien is highly condemnable," Patra added.
Soon after, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan moved a motion seeking O'Brien's suspension from the House for the remainder of the Winter session for his 'unruly and contemptuous behaviour, unbecoming of a member of Rajya Sabha by brazenly throwing the Rajya Sabha rule book towards the Chair' during the discussion thereby bringing disrepute and shame to this august House.
The motion was put to vote and approved by the House through voice vote.
Opposition parties were not present during the vote as they had staged a walkout earlier.
"The motion is adopted. Derek O'Brien, therefore, stands suspended from the remaining part of the current session," Patra announced.
Earlier, Anand Sharma and O'Brien alleged that the bill was being brought in haste and in an undemocratic manner.
Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and CPI-M member John Brittas demanded division on the motion to send the bill to the Select Committee and said not allowing it was against the rules.
Dismissing apprehensions of the opposition on the Bill as 'baseless', Rijiju said they were 'misinterpreting' the Supreme Court's judgment on personal liberty.
"There is no basis of your opposition to the Bill. The Election Commission and the government have held many meetings and the EC's biggest concern is that the same person has (his or her) name in multiple electoral rolls and there is no other system to check this."
He also said any Indian above 18 years can get his/her name included in the voters list and they will get four occasions in a year to register themselves with the EC.
