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Informist, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The joint parliamentary committee on one-nation, one-election bills held its first meeting on Wednesday and was briefed by the representatives of the Ministry of Law and Justice regarding the simultaneous elections in the country. The committee, under the chairmanship of Bharatiya Janata Party leader P.P. Chaudhary, has been tasked to examine the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and to submit its report to Parliament in the Budget session.

 

Several members of the JPC asked government representatives if there was any assessment regarding the expenses to be incurred on holding the simultaneous polls in the country, a committee member said. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked the representatives of the ministry of law and justice if there were any recent assessment about the amount to be spent on holding one-nation, one-election, the member said, adding that several other leaders also joined Vadra.

 

Another opposition member asked regarding the infrastructure requirement for holding the simultaneous polls. The member said that there will be a requirement for large rooms to store voting machines after polling and the requirement for voting machines will be doubled at every booth. He asked government officials about the availability of the machines and the infrastructure.

 

The 'one nation one election' bill was referred to a joint parliamentary committee comprising members from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Both the Houses passed the motion moved by Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal to constitute a 39-member joint parliamentary committee on Friday. 

The 'one nation one election' bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Dec. 17 amid strong objections from Opposition parties. The bills were sent to the JPC on Dec. 20 for the detailed examination.

 

The Constitution amendment bill proposes to insert a new Article 82A for holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and all legislative Assemblies. It also proposes to amend Article 83 (duration of Houses of Parliament), Article 172 (duration of state legislatures) and Article 327 (power of Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to legislatures).

 

The bill provides that, after its enactment, a notification is to be issued by the president on the date of the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a General Election, and that date of the notification will be called the appointed date.

 

"The tenure of the House of the People shall be five years from that appointed date. The tenure of all Assemblies, constituted by elections to the Legislative Assemblies after the appointed date and before the expiry of the full term of the House of the People, shall come to an end at the expiry of the full term of the House of the People," reads the Statement of Objects and Reasons.

 

Following this, elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will be held together. In case of dissolution of the Lok Sabha or an Assembly prior to the completion of the full term, elections will be held for the unexpired term. The unexpired term refers to the period between the date of dissolution of the Lok Sabha or state Assembly and five years from the date of the first meeting.  End

 

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

 

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