The One Country, One Choice bill will be introduced on Monday
To pave the way for simultaneous elections in the country, the central government will introduce two bills related to One Nation One Election in the Lok Sabha on Monday. It is understood that the government will send the two bills to a joint parliamentary committee for discussion. The first bill is the 129th Constitutional Amendment Bill and the second bill is the UT Act Amendment Bill 2024. In the first bill, there is a provision to hold all assembly elections along with the Lok Sabha elections. Its powers will be vested in the President.
If the Election Commission feels that the elections in a state cannot be held along with the Lok Sabha, then it can recommend to the President that the elections in that state should be held on another date. The term of the state assembly will end with the term of the Lok Sabha. Amend Article 83 of the Constitution.
If the Lok Sabha is dissolved first, then the interim term will be the unexpired term.
According to this, the term of the Lok Sabha will be fixed at five years. If the Lok Sabha is dissolved before then, the period in between will be called the unexpired term. After this, elections will be held and the term of the new Lok Sabha will be limited to the unexpired term. These will be called mid-term elections and after the unexpired term ends, new Lok Sabha elections will be held. The same provision will also apply to state assemblies.
Constitution to add new section 82A
Through this bill, a new Article 82A will be introduced in the Constitution, which provides that elections to all state assemblies and Lok Sabha will be held. The amendment to Article 83 relates to the tenure of the Lok Sabha. The amendment to Article 172 deals with the term of office of the State Assembly. The amendment to Article 327 deals with the power of Parliament to elect state assemblies. Similar provisions will be made for UTs of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir in the UT Act Amendment Bill, 2024.
The term of Parliament will end in the Lok Sabha.
According to the draft bill, simultaneous elections will take effect on the date notified by the President in the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after the election. According to the constitutional amendment, the terms of all state assemblies elected after this period will end with the expiration of the term of the Lok Sabha, paving the way for simultaneous elections.
Since the first session of the democratically elected Lok Sabha in 2024 has passed, the date to be determined for the first session of the democratically elected Lok Sabha after the 2029 Lok Sabha elections can now be notified as early as possible. This means we will have to wait for 2034, when the country holds elections at the same time.
Recommendations of the committee headed by Ramnath Kovind
- Repeated elections every year have a negative impact on the economy, politics and society.
- It is recommended to hold Lok Sabha and state assembly elections in the first phase, and municipal and panchayat elections within 100 days.
- After the general election, the President can issue a notification declaring the date of the Lok Sabha meeting as the “appointed date” to ensure continued coordination.
- According to the commission’s report, the terms of many state parliaments will also be reduced to implement one-nation-one election.
- The committee recommends the establishment of a unified voter list and identity card system for all elections.
