New Delhi: The Modi government will likely introduce two key bills in Lok Sabha early next week to set the ball rolling for the implementation of ‘One Nation One Election’, one of its key promises made in its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Union Cabinet — headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — cleared the two bills Thursday, three months after accepting the recommendations of a high-level committee — led by former President Ram Nath Kovind — which advocated for simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha, state assemblies, and civic bodies.
Government sources told ThePrint that the Union Cabinet cleared only two legislations on Thursday.
The first is a constitutional amendment bill for holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies by amending Article 83 (duration of houses of Parliament) and Article 172 (duration of state legislatures) of the Constitution. This is in line with what the Kovind panel recommended as the first step.
The second legislation cleared by the Union Cabinet deals with holding simultaneous elections for assemblies of the Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir. This bill does not require amending the Constitution.
A senior BJP leader, who did not want to be named, said that the BJP-led NDA will likely introduce the bills in the Lok Sabha in the first two days of next week.
“We have issued a whip to all our Lok Sabha MPs to be present in the House Monday and Tuesday,” the leader said, adding that in all likelihood the bills will be referred to a joint parliamentary panel after their introduction in Lok Sabha.
While there was no official briefing for the Cabinet Thursday because the Parliament is in session, government sources said the Cabinet did not take up any other Constitution amendment bills, such as for holding elections to municipalities and Panchayats with the Lok Sabha and state polls.
The Kovind panel recommended that in the second step, the elections to municipalities and Panchayats should be synchronised in a way such that those are held within 100 days of the elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies, considering the elections to the local bodies will require more equipment, manpower and other resources.
The government source quoted earlier said that with the winter session of the Parliament ending on December 20, it is unlikely the bill will be cleared in this session.
Passing constitutional amendment bill will not be easy
It won’t be easy for the NDA to get the constitutional amendment bill passed in either House because of how the numbers are stacked in the two Houses.
Though the constitutional Amendment bill to amend Article 83 (duration of houses of Parliament) and Article 172 (duration of state legislatures) of the Constitution does not require ratification by 50 percent of the state assemblies, it requires not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting to vote in favour of the bill.
The current strength of the Lok Sabha is 542, which means two-thirds of the Lower House is 361 MPs.
Despite having a simple majority in Lok Sabha, it seems unlikely the NDA will muster this number. The BJP-led alliance has 293 MPs in the Lower House — BJP with 240 MPs and its 14 allies with the remaining MPs, including the Telugu Desam Party with 16 and Janata Dal (United) with 12.
Even if one were to include non-NDA parties such as the YSRCP (with its four Lok Sabha MPs) or the Biju Janata Dal or the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which have favoured the idea of simultaneous polls in their response to the Kovind-led panel, the number is still unlikely to touch the 361-mark.
In Rajya Sabha, as well, the NDA faces a similar predicament. With its strength of 231, two-thirds of the Upper House will amount to 154 MPs. The NDA’s current strength in the Rajya House is 119, including nominated members.
The second bill to synchronise the elections in the UTs of Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir is unlikely to face hurdles as it is not a constitutional amendment bill.
A source quoted earlier said it will be only the first step towards bringing the ‘One Nation One Election’ proposal to fruition. The Cabinet has to approve some more constitutional amendment bills and introduce them in Parliament in subsequent phases to operationalise the simultaneous elections. Those will require the support of not only two-thirds of the members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, but also ratification by half the states.
For instance, a constitutional amendment bill has to be introduced in Parliament to insert Article 324A for elections to municipalities and Panchayats. This will require ratification by half the states.
Amendments will also have to be made in the constitutional provisions relating to the preparation of the electoral roll by the Election Commission of India in consultation with the State Election Commission(s) for the elections to the local bodies — in Article 325.
The Kovind-led panel, in its report, said it collected feedback from 47 parties, of which 32, mostly BJP allies, favoured simultaneous polls. However, many parties favouring the proposal do not have a single member in either House.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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