Big Statement From Election Commission on Aadhaar Amid Phase 2 of SIR

New Delhi: In a big statement amid Phase 2 of Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission said that Aadhaar will be allowed only as "proof of identity, and not citizenship". The Phase-II

of the exercise, which began earlier this month, covers nearly 51 crore electors across 9 states."Aadhaar is not a proof of inclusion or exclusion from electoral rolls. It will be allowed only as proof of identity and not citizenship," EC said. The poll panel made the remark in its response affidavit to a petition filed by Advocate."Direct and declare that Aadhaar number be used only for purpose of establishing identity and authenticity in spirit of the Section 23(4) of the RPA, 1950 and that the use of Aadhaar as a proof of date of birth in Form-6 under the Registration of Election Rules PUB1900, is arbitrary/contrary to the UIDAI Notification dated 22.8.2023," Advocate Ashwini Upadhyaya said in a petition submitted before the Supreme Court.In its response affidavit, the Election Commission referred to Supreme Court's September 9 order on the usage of Aadhaar for the purpose of inclusion and exclusion in the voter list."This Hon'ble Court vide the said order has already stated that Aadhaar Card is to be used for the purpose of establishing identity in view of Section 23(4) of the RPA, 1950 and by following the aforesaid order the Commission has already instructions dated 09.09.2025 to the Chief Electoral Officer ("CEO") that it is to be used as proof of identity and not as proof of Citizenship for inclusion or exclusion from voters list. The October 27 notification of ECI marked the commencement of the second phase of the SIR of electoral rolls across 12 States and Union Territories (‘UTs’)— Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal," it said.These states are Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Three UTs namely Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Puducherry are also part of the exercise spanning 321 districts and 1,843 Assembly Constituencies.During the enumeration phase, BLOs will go house-to-house at least thrice for the distribution and collection of EFs.Electors can check their name and the name of the concerned relative(s) in the previous SIR Electoral Rolls at https://voters.eci.gov.in/ to provide the details in the Enumeration Form.For assistance, Electors can also connect with their BLOs using the ‘Book-a-call with BLO” facility on the ECINet App or dial 1950 along with their STD code for the toll-free helpline.