One Nation One Election bill: LS Speaker Om Birla refers two bills to 39-member JPC

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday sent the two bills related to simultaneous elections to a 39-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). The JPC contains members from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. 

The JPC will scrutinise the bill and send its recommendations to the Lok Sabha speaker, according to the Lok Sabha Secretariat. 

On December 17, the two bills -- The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 -- were introduced in the Lok Sabha amid much din. 

The two bills propose the implementation for One Nation, One Election (ONOE) or simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. While the INDIA bloc opposed the move, NDA allies TDP and Shiv Sena backed the BJP. 

Later, Birla announced the results of the voting on the Bill, with 269 members voting in favour (Ayes) and 196 against it (Noes). Voting took place after Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal formally introduced The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and his agreement to send it to a JPC in response to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement. 

While speaking in the Lok Sabha, Shah stated that when the ONOE bill was taken up in the Cabinet for approval, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it should be sent to the JPC for detailled discussion.  "If the Law Minister is willing to send the bill to JPC, the discussion on its introduction can end."

While the Opposition decried the move as "dictatorial", Union minister Meghwal stated the legislation will not interfere with the powers enjoyed by the states. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi said the bill will "finish off" the regional parties. 

"This Bill is aimed at maximising political gain and convenience. This Bill will finish off regional parties," Owaisi said. Similarly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) argued simultaneous elections would weaken democracy. 

Several opposition MPs also contended that holding simultaneous elections would infringe upon the Constitution's basic structure. 

"One of the essential features is federalism and the structure of our democracy. The bills assault the basic structure of the Constitution and exceed the legislative competence of this House," Congress' Manish Tewari, also a former Union minister, said.