Lok Sabha adopts resolution to refer ‘One Nation One Election’ bill to JPC

The joint parliamentary committee on ‘One Nation One Election’ will reportedly have 39 members, 27 from the Lok Sabha and 12 from the Rajya Sabha.

Published on: Dec 20, 2024, 11:52:48 IST

By HT News Desk

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On the last day of the Parliament winter session 2024, the Lok Sabha adopted a resolution to refer the constitutional amendment bills for holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections simultaneously to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).

As many as 269 members voted in favour of the 'One Nation One Election bill, while 198 voted against it. (ANI)

The JPC on the 'One Nation, One Election' bill will have a total of 39 members, with 27 from the Lok Sabha and 12 from the Rajya Sabha, PTI reported.

The list of Lok Sabha MPs proposed by the central government will include one member each from the Shiv Sena (UBT), CPI(M) and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), other than two more members of the BJP and one more of the Samajwadi Party.

ALSO READ | What is 'One Nation One Election' proposal: Explained in points

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, BJP's Bhartruhari Mahtab and former union ministers Anurag Thakur and PP Chaudhary also are among the Lok Sabha members proposed for the JPC.

Among the Lok Sabha names, 17 are from the BJP-led NDA and of those 12 are from the BJP.

Union law and justice minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday had introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the Lok Sabha, with 269 members voting in favour and 198 against.

While NDA leaders hailed the Modi government's move with the ONOE bill, opposition leaders described as "anti-democratic".

Congress leaders said that their stand was clear from the very beginning, that they would oppose the bill. Party MP Jairam Ramesh had said that the grand old party would want the bill to be sent to a JPC.

ALSO READ | One nation, one election: When were simultaneous polls last conducted in India?

Tamil Nadu chief minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) supremo MK Stalin, meanwhile, termed the bill to be "draconian".

"This impractical and anti-democratic move will erase regional voices, erode federalism, and disrupt governance. Rise up INDIA! Let us resist this attack on Indian Democracy with all our strength!" he had written in his post on X.

On the other hand, NDA leaders hailed the bill and said that it would save people's money. Many MPs also said that ONOE will be good for the nation as well.

"One Nation One Election is very important because conducting elections every 6 months costs the government treasury a great deal... The biggest challenge is to ask people to come out and vote time and again. The percentage of voters is going down every year. This is the need of the hour and everyone is in favour of this," BJP MP Kangana Ranaut told ANI while backing the bill.

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HT News Desk
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