New Delhi, December 16
The constitutional amendment bill to hold the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously will be presented in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The bill may be referred to a joint parliamentary committee of both the Houses for a comprehensive discussion. According to the Lok Sabha agenda, the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill 2024, commonly known as the ‘One Country One Election’ Bill, will be introduced by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. After this, Meghwal will request Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to send the bill to the Joint Committee of Parliament for a comprehensive discussion. The Minister will also introduce the Union Territories Law (Amendment) Bill 2024, which has provisions to bring the tenure of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry and Delhi at par with other state assemblies.
The joint committee will be formed on pro-rata basis according to the capacity of MPs of different parties. Being the largest party, BJP will also get several members along with the chairmanship of the committee. The tenure of the proposed committee will initially be for 90 days, but it can be extended later. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be present in the House on the occasion of presenting the bill tomorrow. Last week, the Union Cabinet had approved the draft bills to hold the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections simultaneously. The high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, while making recommendations to the government on the ‘One Country One Election’ proposal, claimed that during the consultation, 32 parties supported the idea and 15 opposed it. Lok Sabha and Assembly elections were held simultaneously in the country between 1951 and 1967. -News-Patiala
