The Union government on Tuesday introduced two bills in the Lok Sabha that would enable the conduct of simultaneous elections to the Lower House of Parliament and the state Assemblies.
On Thursday, the Cabinet had approved the bills titled the 2024 Constitution One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment Bill and the 2024 Union Territories Laws Amendment Bill.
The second bill provides for the Assembly polls in Delhi and other Union territories to take place alongside those for the Lok Sabha and the state Legislatures.
On Tuesday, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor stated that voting on the introduction of the bills showed the Union government did not have the two-third majority required to pass a constitutional amendment, reported ANI.
Tharoor stated that the Centre may constitute the joint parliamentary committee on the bills to ensure that they have a majority there.
“But to pass it as a constitutional amendment, you need a two-third majority that they very clearly do not have,” the Congress MP told ANI.
Tharoor’s party colleague Manickam Tagore also said on social media that the National Democratic Alliance government had “failed to gain two-thirds support”.
The proposal to conduct simultaneous polls follows recommendations made by a high-level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind. The panel suggested a phased approach, starting with national and state polls before aligning local body elections within 100 days of the simultaneous polls.
A timeline for the implementation of simultaneous elections, if the bills are passed by Parliament, is not clear.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a statement on the objects and reasons for the bill to amend the Constitution, had said that elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies were held simultaneously in 1951-’52, 1957, 1962 and 1967.
Meghwal noted that the cycle was disrupted because of some state Assemblies being dissolved prematurely in 1968 and 1969. He cited the Law Commission’s 170th report, which suggested that separate elections for state Assemblies should be the exception rather than the norm.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has championed the “one nation, one election” idea since 2014, arguing that frequent elections disrupt governance and are expensive. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said in September that the government aims to implement the plan in this term.
The bills have been opposed by the Congress, which is the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha, Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party, West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress and Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, among others.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday reiterated that the party wants the draft legislations to be sent to the joint parliamentary committee for wider consultations.
“We believe it goes against the basic structure and it is meant to throttle democracy and accountability in this country,” Ramesh told ANI. “...The one nation, one election bill is only the first milestone, the real objective is to bring a new Constitution.”
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said that they agreed with the suggestion that the bills should be sent to the joint parliamentary committee for further discussions.
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