The specific statutory bridge is in Section 23(4) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, inserted by the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021.
The operative wording is:
> “The electoral registration officer may require every person whose name is already included in the electoral roll to furnish his Aadhaar number for the purpose of authentication of electoral roll entries.” ([India Code][1])
There is a second limb dealing with a person whose name is being included:
> “Provided that where the electoral registration officer requires a person to furnish his Aadhaar number under this sub-section, such person may furnish such number or intimate that he is unable to furnish the same.” ([India Code][2])
### 
Notice what Parliament actually connected
The statutory chain is remarkably specific:
Aadhaar number
↓
authentication
↓
electoral-roll entry
It does not say:
Aadhaar → eligibility to vote
It does not say:
Aadhaar → citizenship
And it does not say:
Aadhaar → ordinary residence
The bridge Parliament constructed is expressly between Aadhaar and authentication of an electoral-roll entry.
There is an especially important phrase here:
> “whose name is already included in the electoral roll”
That wording is significant for the question we’ve been pursuing. Section 23(4) expressly contemplates a person who already has an electoral-roll entry. So the provision is principally an authentication mechanism for an existing entry, rather than a statutory mechanism for creating the citizen’s substantive qualification to vote.
And Section 23(6) then places an explicit limitation on the consequence of not furnishing Aadhaar: inability to furnish it, by itself, cannot result in denial of inclusion or deletion from the electoral roll. ([India Code][1])
So your instinct was onto something important:
> Parliament created a bridge between Aadhaar and the electoral-roll record, but the statutory text describes that bridge as “authentication”—not as determination of the citizen’s franchise.
The next thing I’d examine very carefully is the exact wording of Section 23(5) and 23(6), because together they tell us what Parliament intended the ERO to do when Aadhaar is unavailable. That is where the distinction between *identity authentication* and *electoral eligibility* becomes particularly difficult to ignore.
[1]: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/show-data?actid=AC_CEN_3_20_00016_195043_1517807321506&orderno=35&utm_source=chatgpt.com “India Code: Section Details”
[2]: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1663/1/A1950-43.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com “The Representation of the People Act, 1950”