One nation, one election: Bill to hold simultaneous polls to be introduced in Lok Sabha today

Latest News India: According to the agenda of the Lok Sabha, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will be moving the bill on "one nation, one election." He could thereafter request Speaker Om Birla to refer the Bill to a Joint Committee of Parliament to facilitate wider consultations.

The Cabinet approved the bill last week, which will synchronize the elections of the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry, and the NCT of Delhi.

So far, by provision, till 2034, the process of simultaneous elections will not take place.

As per a copy of the bill distributed on December 13 night, in the event that the Lok Sabha or any state assembly is dissolved before the completion of its full term, mid-term elections would be confined to that legislature to complete the remainder of the five-year term.

The addition of Article 82(A) (simultaneous elections to the House of the People and all Legislative Assemblies of India) is suggested in the bill along with amendments to Articles 83 (duration of Houses of Parliament), 172, and 327 (power of Parliament to make provisions concerning elections to Legislatures).

It says that provisions of the amendment will take effect on an "appointed date," to be notified by the President on the first sitting of the Lok Sabha following a general election.

The bill further sets that the `appointed date' will be after the next Lok Sabha elections which will be held in 2029; the simultaneous elections will occur starting in 2034.

This provision states that the term of office for the House of the People (Lok Sabha) shall be five years from the appointed date and that the term of all legislative assemblies constituted after the appointed date will expire along with the term of the Lok Sabha.

If the House of the People or a Legislative Assembly is dissolved before the expiration of the full term, the new House or Assembly will hold its term for that portion of time remaining in the prior term, says the bill.

The elections will be synchronized as proposed in the BJP's 2024 poll manifesto supported by Prime Minister Narendra Modi but against which opposition raises voices from a host of political parties and activists-local who claim that this will destroy democratic accountability.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also took a dig at the Centre and announced that her party MPs would oppose this "draconian legislation". She asserts that the bill is not a "well-thought-out reform", but rather "authoritarian imposition".

There are currently 542 members in the Lok Sabha and, therefore, the government needs support from 361 members of Parliament. Besides the NDA, the government will also require backing from independent parties like the YSR Congress Party, BJD, and AIADMK to get this resolution passed.