New Delhi:
A Constitutional amendment bill – to permit holding Lok Sabha and Assembly elections together, part of the ‘one nation, one election’ push – will likely be tabled in the Lok Sabha this morning, and then be sent to a parliamentary committee.
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Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is expected to table the bill – the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 – sources said. Once introduced, he will likely ask Speaker Om Birla to refer the bill to a joint committee – to be constituted based number of seats held by various parties – for wider consultation.
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As the single largest party in the House, the BJP will chair the to-be formed committee and also get the maximum number of seats. Committee members will be announced by the day’s end. The initial term will be 90 days, but this may be extended, sources added.
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Last week the Union Cabinet cleared two bills to amend the Constitution and allow the ruling BJP to implement its ‘one nation, one election’ proposal. The bills – and the amendments – were recommended by a panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind, and with Home Minister Amit Shah as a member, in a report filed in September.
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The first is an amendment linking the term of state Assemblies to that of the Lok Sabha; this means the terms of state governments elected after 2029 will end with the tenure of that Lok Sabha. So, an Assembly elected in 2031 will dissolve in 2034 and not complete its five-year term, so its next poll cycle can be synced to the 20th Lok Sabha election.
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The second bill proposes changes to the Assemblies of three union territories – Puducherry, Delhi, and Jammu and Kashmir – to align it with states and the Lok Sabha.
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These provisions are not expected to come into effect before the 2034 election; according to the bill, its provisions will be enforced after an ‘appointed’ date to be notified after the first sitting of a new Lok Sabha, which, in this case, is already over.
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Once a date is set, should a legislative Assembly be dissolved ahead of scheduled, mid-term polls will be held for a new legislature to complete the previous term.
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The Ram Nath Kovind panel believes these bills will not require ratification by the states, which would have made it difficult for the BJP, given opposition from non-party ruled states. However, proposals for a common electoral roll, or to align local body polls with those at the state or central level, will need the agreement of at least half of the states.
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The government has said simultaneous polls will “transform the electoral process (and) governance”. A ‘one nation, one election’ system will also “prevent policy paralysis” and the “atmosphere of uncertainty” caused by frequent elections, it has argued.
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The opposition, led by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool and the Congress, disagree. Ms Banerjee has slammed the “anti-federal” exercise and labelled it “an authoritarian imposition designed to undermine India’s democracy and federal structure”.
