Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday introduced the bill for “one nation, one election” in the Lok Sabha. A vote on the proposal saw 269 votes in favour and 198 in opposition. Following the introduction of the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the bill has now been sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for a detailed discussion.
The bill, which also seeks to align the elections of the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry and the NCT of Delhi, was cleared by the Cabinet last week.
The proposal to align elections has been a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) 2024 poll manifesto and has the backing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, it faces opposition from a raft of political parties and activists who allege that it will hurt democratic accountability.
Home minister Amit Shah delivered a fierce speech in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday evening, taking several jibes at the Opposition, especially the Congress party. He accused the grand old party of being “anti-constitutional” and said that it also did not care for the progress of the backward classes.
Shah listed the works of the Modi government for the nation, while slamming that of the former Congress regime.
Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will now reconvene on Wednesday, December 18, at 11 am.
