Bihar Election 2025: Aadhaar as proof of citizenship or birth? Watch what CEC Gyanesh Kumar says | Video

Bihar Election 2025: Chief Election Commission Gyanesh Kumar said on October 5 that the Aadhaar card cannot be considered a proof of citizenship under the Representation of the People Act 1950 and the Aadhaar Act. Kumar was responding to a question on the issue during his visit to poll-bound Bihar.

“Aadhaar card cannot be considered a proof of citizenship under the Representation of the People Act 1950 and the Aadhaar Act,” Kumar told reporters in Patna asserting that Aadhaar can also not be a proof of birth for an individual.

This despite a recent Supreme Court order directing the poll panel treat Aadhaar card as a "12th document" which can be produced as proof of identity for the purpose of inclusion in the revised voters list of Bihar.

"...According to the Supreme Court's orders and under the Aadhaar Act, Aadhaar cannot be considered proof of date of birth, proof of residence, or proof of citizenship," Kumar, who led a delegation of ECI to poll-bound Patna said. The team to review poll preparedness ahead of the upcoming Legislative Assembly polls included Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

Kumar said the Election Commission requested Aadhaar card within the enumeration form itself. “Providing your Aadhaar number is not mandatory under the Aadhaar Act, nor under Section 26 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. It is optional. It depends on the Aadhaar holder,” Kumar said.

Even under the Aadhaar Act, the poll panel chief saud, the Aadhaar card is neither proof of residence nor proof of citizenship. “If anyone got Aadhaar card after 2023 or downloaded it after 2023, the Aadhaar card itself, under several orders of the Supreme Court, states that the Aadhaar card is not proof of date of birth,” he said.

The delegation met representatives from 12 political parties on the first day of its two-day visit to the poll-bound state.

What is the Supreme Court say?

The Supreme Court on September 8 directed the Election Commission of India to treat Aadhaar card as a "12th document" which can be produced as proof of identity for the purpose of inclusion in the revised voters list of Bihar.

The Supreme Court did say, and we are following that order, that Aadhaar cards should be accepted, he said. " However, the Supreme Court also stated in its order that the Aadhaar card will not be proof of citizenship....the Supreme Court has also stated that it is not proof of citizenship. Other documents may be required for eligibility," he said.

Poll panel met 12 political parties

During a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners S S Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, representatives from six national and six state parties urged for Bihar assembly election to be conducted soon after Chhath in the minimal phases, according to officials, news agency PTI reported.

Chhath, a significant festival in Bihar celebrated six days after Diwali, will take place from October 25 to 28 this year.

When is Bihar Election 2025?

Bihar has 243 assembly constituencies – two for STs and 38 for SCs. Dates for the assembly polls are likely to be announced by the EC after the two-day visit to the state. The term of incumbent assembly expire on November 22 and a new assembly has to be sworn on before this date.

“The term of the Bihar Legislative Assembly ends on November 22, 2025, and elections will be held before that time... The Election Commission trained booth-level officers for the first time... SIR was launched on June 24, 2025, and completed by the deadline,” CEC said in the press conference.

The poll panel had on 30 September published its final electoral roll in Bihar, containing details of 7.42 crore voters, a drop of more than 47 lakh since June, when the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was launched.

While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has been of the view that the exercise was needed to remove “impurities” from the voters' list, in which illegal foreign immigrants may have been included in the past, the opposition has cried foul, accusing the EC of indulging in "vote theft" at the behest of the ruling coalition.

(With agency inputs)