Lok Sabha sends ‘one nation, one election’ bills to JPC

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Pic/PTI

The Lok Sabha on Friday referred the two bills on simultaneous bills to a joint committee of Parliament. Speaker Om Birla asked Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to move the resolution to refer to the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 referred to Joint Committee of Parliament comprising 27 members from the Lok Sabha and 12 from the Rajya Sabha.

The resolution was adopted by a voice vote amid noisy scenes. The Lok Sabha was then adjourned sine die (indefinitely), bringing to an end the Winter session which began on November 25. The two ‘one nation, one election' (ONOE) bills, including one requiring an amendment in the Constitution, lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections and were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after a fiery debate.

The resolution was moved by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in Parliament. Pic/PTI

BJP leader and Lok Sabha member Bhratruhari Mahtab is tipped to be the chairman of the Joint Committee on the ‘One Nation One Election' (ONOE) bills with former union ministers Anurag Thakur, Parshottam Rupala, P P Chaudhary, Manish Tewari and several first term lawmakers, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Bansuri Swaraj and Sambit Patra, as members.

39 members in Parl panel

Decks were cleared for setting up a mega 39-member parliamentary panel to examine the two bills proposing simultaneous elections with the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha adopting resolutions in this regard. The strength of the committee was increased from 31 MPs to 39, giving representation to more parties. Among the 39 members of the Committee, 16 are from the BJP, five from the Congress, two each from SP, TMC and DMK, and one each from the Shiv Sena, TDP, JD(U), RLD, LJSP(RV), JSP, Shiv Sena-UBT, NCP-SP, CPI(M), AAP, BJD and YSRCP.

The NDA has 22 members and 10 are from the opposition INDIA bloc. The BJD and the YSRCP are not members of the ruling or the opposition coalition. The BJD is yet to spell out its stand on simultaneous polls, while the YSRCP has backed the move. As per the resolution moved by Meghwal, the Committee has been asked to submit its report to the Lok Sabha by the first day of the last week of the next session.

Will oppose, says Congress

The Congress on Friday said ‘one nation, one election' was against the basic structure of the Constitution and asserted that it would oppose the idea "tooth and nail". The opposition party also said the idea of ‘one nation, one election' was anti-democratic and anti-federal.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh wondered how the government would muster the two-third majority required for a constitutional amendment when it could not even assemble 272 MPs at the time of introduction of the bills that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections.

"It has been referred to a joint committee of Parliament. Our view is very clear, this is anti-democratic and anti-federal. It goes against the basic structure of the Constitution," Ramesh said.

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