With ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bills set to be tabled today, Congress, Shiv Sena issue whip mandating presence of all their LS MPs

Meanwhile, Sena MP Shrirang Barne, who is the party’s chief whip in the Lower House, issued the whip saying “some very important issue/legislative business” is to be discussed and passed in the House, news agency PTI reported. The Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, popularly being referred to as the ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill, will be introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. He is likely to request Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to refer the Bill to a Joint Committee of Parliament for wider consultations.

The joint panel will be constituted on a pro-rata basis, based on the strength of MPs of various parties. As the largest party, the BJP will get the chairmanship of the committee, besides several other members.

The Union Cabinet last week approved the Constitution Bill, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill), 2024 that would allow holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha as well as state and Union Territory assemblies. The latter seeks to align the elections of the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry and the NCT of Delhi.

The Bills were drafted as per the recommendations of the high-level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, which was appointed by the Law Ministry on September 2, 2023 to suggest ways and amendments to enable simultaneous elections.

Of the 47 parties that submitted their opinion on the matter to the Kovind panel, 32 supported the idea and 15 opposed it.

— With PTI inputs