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New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Tuesday, December 17, witnessed intense debate as the union government introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The bills, aimed at enabling simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, were introduced by union law minister Arjun Meghwal after receiving cabinet approval last week.
The motion to introduce the bills saw 269 MPs voting in favour and 198 opposing it, reported the Indian Express.
Opposition rejects bill as ‘unconstitutional’
Leading the charge against the proposed legislation, the Congress party vehemently opposed the bills, calling them a threat to democracy. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “The Congress party firmly, totally, comprehensively rejects the One Nation, One Election (ONOE) bill. We will oppose its introduction. We will demand its reference to a Joint Parliamentary Committee. We believe it is unconstitutional. We believe it goes against the basic structure and it is meant to throttle democracy and accountability in this country.”
Ramesh further alleged that the ONOE initiative was a stepping stone toward replacing the Constitution. “The One Nation, One Election bill is only the first milestone, the real objective is to bring a new Constitution. Amending the Constitution is one thing but bringing a new Constitution is the real objective of the RSS and PM (Narendra) Modi,” he said. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had earlier expressed similar concerns in a letter to former President Ram Nath Kovind, who chaired the high-level committee that proposed the bills.
Also read: Four Ex-CECs Who Backed ‘One Nation, One Election’ Faced Questions of Independence
Other opposition leaders, including Manish Tewari (Congress), Dharmendra Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Kalyan Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), also voiced strong objections. Tewari argued that the bill violated the 7th Schedule and the Basic Structure doctrine and Yadav warned that the measure could lead to dictatorship, while Banerjee stated that state legislatures are not subordinate to the Centre.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) joined the opposition chorus, while ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) extended its “unwavering support” to the bills.
Key provisions of the bills
The proposed legislation, drafted based on the recommendations of the Kovind-led committee, seeks to synchronise the terms of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. According to the draft, the president would notify an “appointed date” after the first sitting of the Lok Sabha following a general election. Any state assembly elected after this date would have its term curtailed to align with that of the Lok Sabha.
The ONOE committee, formed in September 2023, consulted 47 political parties, of which 32 supported the initiative, while 15 opposed it.
