The 129th Constitutional Amendment Bill for the simultaneous elections in the country has been referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) comprising up to 31 MPs. On December 17, two bills were introduced by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in the Lok Sabha, sparking a lengthy and heated debate. After a division vote, the bills passed the first hurdle with ease. A total of 269 MPs voted in favour, while 198 opposed it. Following this, the bills were referred to a JPC for ‘wider consultation’. The bill provisions the dissolving of the state assemblies after a president’s notification on the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after the general elections.
The JPC will hold deliberations followed by consultations with the public and meetings with all stakeholders like Election Commission, etc after which the committee will table the report in the Lok Sabha. In case of revisions based on the recommendations of the JPC, the bill will be reintroduced in the Lok Sabha. After the JPC stage, the debate and discussions on the bill will take place in the Lok Sabha and in case of no amendments, the bill will directly go for voting. In case amendments are proposed, firstly the voting will take place on the amendments and then the final voting on the bill. If passed, the bill would be sent to the Rajya Sabha otherwise the bill would fail.
In Rajya Sabha, the same process would follow. It will begin with the discussion and debate over the bill. In case of no amendments, the bill would be put to voting. In case the amendments are suggested, the voting on amendments will take place first and then the bill will be put through a final voting. If passed, the bill will go for the President’s assent and become law after her signature. If rejected, the bill will be returned to Lok Sabha. If amended, the bill will return to Lok Sabha with amendments. In case of return of the bill with or without amendment, the Lok Sabha would be solely entitled to entertain Rajya Sabha’s recommendations.
Since it is a Constitutional Amendment Bill, a simple majority of each house (272 for Lok Sabha, 123 for Rajya Sabha) along with two-thirds votes of the members present would be required. The number of votes required in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to pass the bill would be 362 and 164 respectively. For ‘One Nation, One Election’ to become a reality, a constitutional amendment must be passed and ratified by all state and union territory governments, and potentially by major political parties. The proposed amendments would affect several constitutional articles, including Articles 83, 85, 172, 174, and 356. In the midst of this lengthy process, the fate of this ambitious proposal hangs in balance.
