Parliament Session: Cabinet okays 'One Nation, One Election' Bill

Almost three months after the Union Cabinet accepted the recommendations of the former President Ram Nath Kovind-headed high-level committee on “One Nation One Election (ONOE)”, it on Thursday approved two Bills, including a Constitution amendment Bill to provide for conducting elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies simultaneously.

 

The Bills are likely to be introduced in Parliament during the ongoing Winter Session, which is set to conclude on December 20. Sources said the Constitution amendment Bill, once introduced, would be referred to a parliamentary committee for further scrutiny.

 

The second Bill, an “ordinary” one, relates to aligning the elections for Assemblies of Union Territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir with the elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. The second Bill proposes to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act-1991, the Government of Union Territories Act-1963 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act-2019. 

 

 

The Kovind panel also recommended holding of civic and panchayat polls within 100 days of simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. However, the Constitution amendment Bill is likely to focus only on simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, with the government opting to stay away for now from synchronising local-level polls. The Constitution amendment Bill to hold simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies will not require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the states, the sources noted.

 

The Kovind panel had said that simultaneous polls will reduce expenditure in the long run and different parts of the country will not be under the Model Code of Conduct throughout the year due to various polls, which hampered development work. The panel had submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu in March, that is before the Lok Sabha polls.

 

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lacks the numbers in the Lok Sabha to ensure the passage of the Constitution amendment Bill without the help of the INDI bloc parties, which are opposed to the proposal. Some of the parties, such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), had supported the proposal in their submission to the Kovind panel, but have now had a rethink, calling for wider consultations.

 

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Anil Desai said the Election Commission couldn’t hold the Assembly polls to Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand simultaneously. "J&K and Haryana elections could have been held together with Maharashtra but it was not done. Even the Jharkhand election was held in two phases," Desai said.

 

The Congress, Left parties, and other INDI bloc constituents reiterated their opposition to the Bill. "One Nation, One Election is part of their slogan ‘one leader, one country, one ideology, one language...'. It's against the federal spirit of the country," CPI (M)’s John Brittas said. BJD Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra said greater consultations need to be held.