New Delhi: The government is moving forward rapidly on 'One Nation, One Election'. To implement this plan of holding simultaneous elections in the country, the government is likely to bring three bills, out of which two will be related to constitutional amendment. One of the proposed constitutional amendment bills relates to holding local body elections along with the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. This will require the support of at least 50 percent of the states.
Moving forward with its 'One Country, One Election' plan, the government earlier this month appointed a high-level committee to hold simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner after a nationwide consensus building exercise. accepted the recommendations. The proposed first Constitution Amendment Bill will relate to provision for simultaneous holding of Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections.
Attempt to amend Article 82A
Citing the recommendations of the high-level committee, sources said an attempt will be made to amend Article 82A by adding sub-section (1) related to 'due date' in the proposed bill. In this, sub-section (2) will be included in Article 82A related to simultaneous termination of the tenure of the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies. It is also proposed to amend Article 83(2) and insert new sub-sections (3) and (4) relating to the tenure of the Lok Sabha and its dissolution. It also has provisions relating to dissolution of assemblies and amending Article 327 to include the words “simultaneous elections”.
The recommendation states that this bill will not require ratification by at least 50 percent of the states. The proposed second Constitution Amendment Bill will require ratification by at least 50 percent of the state legislatures as it will deal with subjects related to state affairs. It will propose to amend the constitutional provisions relating to 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 SEC are separate bodies. The Election Commission conducts elections for the President, Vice President, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Assemblies and State Legislative Councils, while the SEC is empowered to conduct elections for local bodies like municipalities and panchayats.
New Article 324A will be added
No need to amend the Constitution
The proposed bill would be an ordinary law that would not require an amendment to the Constitution and would not require ratification by the states. The high-level committee had proposed amendments to three articles, insertion of 12 new sub-sections in existing articles and changes in three laws related to Union Territories with Legislative Assemblies. The total number of amendments and new entries is 18. In its report submitted to the government in March, just before the announcement of Lok Sabha elections this year, the committee had recommended implementing “one country, one election” in two phases. It suggests, in the first phase, simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies and in the second phase, elections to local bodies like panchayats and municipal bodies within 100 days of the general elections. (Language)
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