Govt mulls three bills to implement 'one nation, one election' plan

NEW DELHI: The government is likely to bring three bills, including two to amend the Constitution, to put in place its plan to hold simultaneous elections.

One of the proposed Constitution amendment bills, that deals with aligning the local bodies elections to that of the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies, will require an endorsement from at least 50 per cent of the states.

Moving ahead with its 'one nation, one election' plan, the government earlier this month accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee for holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner after a countrywide consensus-building exercise.

The proposed first constitutional amendment bill would deal with making provisions for holding Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly elections together.

Citing recommendations of the high-level committee, sources said the proposed bill would seek to amend Article 82A by adding sub-clause (1) relating to the 'appointed date'. It will also seek to insert sub-clause (2) to Article 82A relating to the end of terms of the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies together.

It also proposes to amend Article 83(2) and insert new sub-clauses (3) and (4) relating to the duration and dissolution of the Lok Sabha. It also has provisions related to the dissolution of the legislative assemblies and amending Article 327 to insert the term "simultaneous elections".

This bill will not require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the states, the recommendation said.

The proposed second Constitutional amendment bill will require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the state assemblies as it will deal with matters relating to state affairs.

It will seek to amend constitutional provisions relating to the preparation of electoral rolls by the Election Commission (EC) in consultation with State Election Commissions (SECs) for elections to local bodies.

Constitutionally, the EC and SECs are separate bodies. The EC holds elections to the post of the President, the Vice President, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state assemblies and state legislative councils while the SECs are mandated to conduct polls to local bodies such as municipalities and panchayats.

The proposed second Constitution amendment bill will also create provisions to hold simultaneous elections to municipalities and panchayats, along with elections to Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies by inserting a new Article 324A.

The third bill will be an ordinary one to amend provisions in three laws dealing with Union territories having legislative assemblies -- Puducherry, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir -- to align the terms of these Houses with other legislative assemblies and the Lok Sabha as proposed in the first constitutional amendment bill.

The statutes it proposes to amend are the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act-1991, the Government of Union Territories Act-1963 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act-2019.

The proposed bill will be an ordinary legislation not requiring a change in the Constitution and will also not need ratification by the states.

The high-level committee had proposed amendments to three Articles, insertion of 12 new sub-clauses in the existing articles and tweaking three laws related to Union Territories having legislative assemblies. The total number of amendments and new insertions stands at 18.

In its report submitted to the government in March, just before the general election was announced, the panel recommended implementing "one nation, one election" in two phases.

It suggested simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies in the first phase and elections for local bodies like panchayats and municipal bodies within 100 days of the general election in the second phase.

It also recommended a common electoral roll, which would need coordination between the Election Commission and State Election Commissions.