A maximum of 31 MPs will form the joint parliamentary committee to which the Constitution (129th) Amendment Bill – which proposes changes to the Constitution to allow the conduct of simultaneous federal and state elections – will be referred, sources told NDTV late Tuesday evening.
The bill was tabled by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in the Lok Sabha this afternoon, prompting hours of bitter arguments before a division vote – unusual at this stage of a bill – was conducted.
This first hurdle was cleared easily, as expected; 269 MPs voted for its consideration by Parliament, while 198 said ‘nay’. And, also as expected, the bills were then sent to a JPC for “wider consultation”.
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The composition of the joint committee – which will also include Rajya Sabha MPs – will be settled by Speaker Om Birla in 48 hours. This deadline is key because this Parliament session ends Friday. If a committee is not named and tasked, the bill lapses and must be re-introduced in the next session.
Political parties in Parliament have been asked to propose members, sources said.
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The formula to populate the committee – i.e., how many seats each party will get based on MPs in its corner – has not been announced. However, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha, will certainly hold a majority and also occupy the committee Chair.
Normally, of the maximum of 31 MPs on a JPC, 21 are from the Lok Sabha.
Once established, the committee is expected to have 90 days to submit a report.
This term can be extended if needed, sources have confirmed.
What ‘One Nation, One Poll’ JPC Will Do
The JPC is expected to hold “wider consultations” with various stakeholders, including MPs not part of the committee and other legal and constitutional experts, such as former judges and lawyers.
Former members of the Election Commission may also be consulted.
The EC is the top poll body in the country and will have the extraordinarily mammoth task of organising simultaneous Lok Sabha and state elections, if the bills to amend the Constitution, and the ‘one nation, one election’ bill itself, are passed by Parliament and then ratified by the states.
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Sources have also said the BJP is keen on consulting all Assembly Speakers.
Feedback will also likely be sought from the public.
Once these inputs have been gathered, sources said the JPC will consider the entire text of each of the two bills to change the Constitution, moving clause by clause before submitting a final report.
What Is ‘One Nation, One Election’?
Simply put, it means all Indians will vote in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections – to pick central and state representatives – in the same year, if not at the same time.
As of 2024, only four states voted with a Lok Sabha election – Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Odisha voted alongside the April-June Lok Sabha election. Three others – Maharashtra, Haryana, and Jammu and Kashmir – voted in October-November.
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The rest follow a non-synced five-year cycle; Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana, for example, were among those voted at different times last year, while Delhi and Bihar will vote in 2025 and Tamil Nadu and Bengal are among those that will vote in 2026.
Can ‘One Nation, One Election’ Work?
Not without an amendment to the Constitution and that amendment being ratified by the governments of all states and union territories, as well as, possibly, major political parties.
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These are Article 83 (term of Parliament), Article 85 (dissolution of Lok Sabha by the President), Article 172 (duration of state legislatures), and Article 174 (dissolution of state legislatures), as well as Article 356 (imposition of President’s Rule).
Legal experts have warned that failure to pass such amendments will leave the proposal open to attack on charges of violating India’s federal structure.
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