Parliament session highlights: After Shah's speech, Rajya Sabha adjourned till tomorrow

Amit Shah asked as to how Congress and the opposition termed EVMs to be at fault in Maharashtra, where it lost, and not in Jharkhand, where the INDIA bloc won.

“How is this possible?” he asked.

Raking up the opposition’s accusations against the Centre over EVMs, home minister Amit Shah said that whenever Congress loses, it blames the electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Home minister Amit Shah hit out at the former Congress regime and said that first PM Jawaharlal Nehru amended the Constitution to curtail the freedom of expression.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, home minister Amit Shah said that while many countries did not have a successful democracy, India made numerous changes without shredding a drop of blood.

“In the last 75 years, there have been many nations nation that became independent and had new beginnings but democracy did not succeed there. But our democracy is deep-rooted. We made numerous changes without shedding a drop of blood. The people of this country have shattered the arrogance of multiple dictators and that too democratically,” he said.

Hitting out at the opposition for accusing the Centre of changing the Constitution, home minister Amit Shah said that the Congress party, in the 55 years of its rule, changed the Constitution 77 times.

Home minister Amit Shah said that these Constitutional debates in the Parliament will be educational for the youth of the country.

“It will also help the people of the country to understand which party has honoured the Constitution and which has not... I thank Sardar Patel as it is because of his struggle that the nation is standing strong in front of the world,” he said in the Rajya Sabha.

Amit Shah said that this debate in the House “will make people realise how the country has moved forward because of the Constitution, and on the other hand, it also makes us realise that it is because of the basic sentiments of the Constitution that the very foundations of democracy have been deepened in the last 75 years."

Replying to the Constitution debate in the Lok Sabha, Home minister Amit Shah said that the constitution has led to India’s growth and with the Centre’s work, the nation has become the 5th largest economy in the world.

Union home minister Amit Shah is replying on the Constitution debate in the Rajya Sabha.

Congress MP Tariq Anwar said, “...They (BJP) want to change the Constitution of India and end federalism... We believe they will not succeed because a 2-3 majority is required for the constitutional amendment and they wanted to win more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections so that they could do anything... They are working against the spirit of the Constitution.”

Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking this (One Nation One Election) “revolutionary decision”.

“The continuous state of elections stops the development of the country, and the public welfare projects and they don't let the governments take any long-term decisions. The national political parties in our country are only preparing for the elections for 12 months a year during all 5 years... PM, Union Ministers, MLAs, MPs and workers are in the election field all the time,” he added.

Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla said has described the ‘One Nation One Election’ as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “jhumla”.

“A few days ago India's Parliament celebrated 'Constitution Day' and it is regrettable that after that BJP is trying to attack the basic structure of Constitution again by bringing in the 'Jhumla' 'One Nation One Election'. This is against the basic doctrine of India. This is an attempt to curtail the powers of the states...it is a good thing that not all partners of NDA support this and the bill went to JPC and it won't become a reality until 2029,” he told ANI.

Lok Sabha winter session has been adjourned till December 18, Wednesday, 11 am.

Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that the ‘One Nation One Election’ bill is “anti-constitution, anti-democracy, and anti-federal structure”.

"It is good that it is sent to the JPC because it will become a voice of all the political parties. One Nation One Election is anti-constitution, anti-democracy and anti-federal structure... This is not going to save any money,” she told ANI.

Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora asked as to why the Opposition is afraid of going back to the old days, in reference to the system of simultaneous polls.

"I think the fact that the govt is keen to go back to the days when all elections used to happen simultaneously which reduces the burden on the taxpayers and allows the govt to focus on governance, it is need of the hour. I don't know why the Opposition is afraid of going back to the old days. I am curious,” he told ANI.

BJP MLA Balmukund Acharya said that the ‘One Nation One Election’ bill is the “need of the hour” as it saves a lot of money and time.

“Everyone should support it as it is in the interests of the nation...Whenever a decision is taken in the interests of the nation, the opposition has a problem with it,” he told ANI.

The Bharatiya Janata Party will sent a notice to about 20 MPs who were not present in the Parliament for the voting on ‘One Nation One Election’ bill.

The party had issued a whip asking for the presence of all of its MPs.

BJP MP Hema Malini said that India is the only nation where we have elections all the time, but in every country, elections are held only once.

“Due to this, I face a lot of problems as an MP when work stops due to the enforcement of the model code of conduct. If elections are held only once, then the money saved can be used for different purposes like education and health,” he told ANI.

TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee told ANI that the One Nation, One Election bill “hits the basic structure of the Constitution”.

“t is contrary to Article 83 sub-article 2(1)... Thirdly, the state assembly will depend upon the desired doctrine of the central parliament. Whenever the parliament will dissolve, then all state elections have to be done. State assembly and state government are not subordinate to the Parliament and the central government,” he added.

“They have their respective jurisdiction... After it comes into force, if a state government fails, then for that state another election has to be done for the unspent period. How it can win one nation, one election?... They want to change the constitutional structure. It is trying to take a presidential form of the government into the country..." Banerjee said.

BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that One Nation One Election bill being introduced in the Parliament is a “historic day”.

“The bill has been introduced in the Parliament and has been sent to the JPC. This decision of the government and the Prime Minister is something that politically I had been dreaming of. That has been the dream of the people of the country,” he told ANI.

Union minister Chirag Paswan raised questions at the Opposition’s remarks and asked how the bill is “unconstitutional and against federalism”.

“At least one member of the Opposition should tell how is it against federalism...The Opposition is an expert in telling lies and setting false narratives. They should talk based on merits. Aren't so many regional parties supporting it?” he told ANI.

Union minister SP Singh Baghel said that the One Nation One Election bill is a huge step towards Parliamentary reforms, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes in minimum government and maximum governance.

“Because of 'One Nation, One Election', once we get free from elections, we can concentrate on development programs. Otherwise, the Code of Conduct has to be imposed now and then. Development gets halted, inaugurations cannot take place,” he added.

Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray said that the matter of One Nation One Election bill should come later, first the election of the Election Commissioner should be held.

"If the President can be elected, then why not the Election Commissioner? If people have doubts about EVMs, then they should be cleared. Let the voting happen on the ballot paper once. If they get the same majority, then no one would question anything after that," he added.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi slammed the central government over the One Nation One Election bill and its reasoning for the proposal.

"The government is arguing that crores of rupees are being spent in organizing elections and it is trying to save money. To conduct a Lok Sabha election, ₹3700 crores is spent, this figure was given by ECI during the 2024 LS elections. ₹3,700 crores is 0.02% of the annual budget," the Congress leader told ANI.

Gogoi further said, "To save the 0.02% expenditure of the annual budget, they want to end the entire federal structure of India and give more power to the ECI."

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor told ANI, "This whole thing (ONOE bill) makes no sense," adding that "In a parliamentary system, there is no way that you can have fixed terms without completely playing havoc with our democracy."

"It is technically introduced, but you heard from the objections of a lot of parties. In addition to all the very valid objections made by the opposition members, there's also the question of depriving our people's mandate. They have the right to vote. The Constitution begins with the words 'we the people'. This is about the people of India," he added.

Tharoor said, "They should have the right to determine who forms their government and imagine a situation where one government has to fall because another government falls because of an arbitrary deadline."