269 MPs vote in favor of 'one nation, one election' bill amid fierce pushback from opposition parties

Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Dec 17 introduced the Constitution — 129th Amendment Bill 2024 — in the Lok Sabha, advancing the 'One Nation, One Election' initiative amid fierce pushback from Opposition parties.

The Bill was supported by 269 Members of Parliament (MPs) and 198 MPs voted against it in Lok Sabha. This marked the first use of electronic voting in the new Parliament House.

Ahead of the introduction of the Bill, the Congress strongly rejected the move claiming it was unconstitutional, while the Samajwadi Party said it would lead to dictatorship. The government refuted these claims.

Congress Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor slammed the government, saying voting at the introduction stage of two bills on the One Nation One Election in the Lok Sabha showed the BJP did not have the two-thirds majority required to pass a constitutional amendment.

"We (the Congress) are not the only ones that have opposed this bill. The vast majority of the opposition parties have opposed this bill and the grounds are very many, it is a violation of the federal structure of the Constitution. Why should a state government fall if the central government falls?" he told reporters in the Parliament premises.”

"My view is that this entire thing is a folly. In any case, the votes today have demonstrated that the BJP does not have the two-thirds majority required to pass a constitutional amendment," he said.

Tharoor said the government might constitute Parliament's joint committee in such a way that it has a majority but, without a two-third majority in the House, there would not be a constitutional amendment. "So this discussion is increasingly futile," he added.

Once approved, the Bill popularly referred to as "One Nation, One Election", will ensure Lok Sabha, Assembly, and local body (urban or rural) elections are held in the same year, if not at the same time across India. This was the norm from independence to 1967.

Meghwal also proposed amendments to the Government of Union Territories Act, of 1963, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, of 1991, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, of 2019. These amendments seek to align assembly elections in Delhi, Jammu Kashmir, and Puducherry with the proposed framework for simultaneous elections.

Notably, the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill) 2024 were approved by the Cabinet last week.

Vehemently opposing the move, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “The Congress party firmly, totally, comprehensively rejects the One Nation, One Election (ONOE) bill. We will oppose its introduction. We will demand its reference to a Joint Parliamentary Committee. We believe it is unconstitutional. We believe it goes against the basic structure and it is meant to throttle democracy and accountability in this country.”

Ramesh said Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on January 17 this year had written to former President Ram Nath Kovind – who headed the 'One Nation, One Election' panel — explaining why the party was against the idea.

“The One Nation, One Election bill is only the first milestone, the real objective is to bring a new Constitution. Amending the Constitution is one thing but bringing a new Constitution is the real objective of the RSS and PM Narendra Modi,” he said.

Among others, Congress’s Manish Tewari and Kanimozhi of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had given notices opposing the introduction of the Bill. Initiating the discussion in the House, Tewari said the Bill was beyond the 7th Schedule of the Constitution and the Basic Structure doctrine.

Congress member Manickam Tagore also opposed the move and said, "Two-third majority was needed for the amendment to be passed, and that means the total members present were 461, in that, 2/3rd means 307 was needed but the government got 263 and the opposition got 198. Therefore, they did not get 2/3rd.”

“This bill does not have the support of the opposition and many parties have spoken against it. Now it is very clear that this bill is just going to be referred to some other committees. It is not going to happen." he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi favoured detailed discussion at every level on the 'one nation, one election' bill and wanted it to be referred to a Joint Parliament Committee (JPC), Home Minister Amit Shah said in Lok Sabha.

"When One Nation, One Election bills came up in cabinet, PM Modi said these should be referred to the Joint Committee of Parliament. There should be a detailed discussion over it at every level," Shah said.

Shah pointed out that DMK member T R Baalu too had favoured referring the bill to a parliamentary committee. He said the bill can be discussed in greater detail in the Joint Committee of Parliament.

The report of the JPC will be approved by the Union Cabinet and the Bill can be discussed again in Parliament, he said.

Samajwadi Party’s Dharmendra Yadav also opposed it, saying it would lead to dictatorship, while Kalyan Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) said state governments and legislative assemblies are not subordinate to the Centre. Other parties including the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) also opposed the move. However, ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP)

"State Legislative Assembly is not subordinate to Central govt or Parliament. The tenure of the State Assembly depending on the tenure of the Lok Sabha is inconsistent. The state has the power to legislate under Schedule VII, List II. The autonomy of the State assembly can't be taken away. Hits Basic structure of Constitution," Banerjee said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) also opposed the Bill stating that the Republic of India is a union of States and the Bill undermines the very entity of State.

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said that the Bills are an attack on citizens' Right to Vote. He further emphasized that the proposed Article 82(5) gives excessive powers to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and that the President is to only act on the advice of the Council of Ministers or the recommendation of the Governor, not ECI.

The Bills were drafted as per the recommendations of the high-level committee chaired by 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.

As per the draft, the President would have to notify an “appointed date” on the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election, and any Legislative Assembly elected after that date would have its term curtailed to end with that of the Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, the BJP will send notices to more than 20 MPs who were not present in the Lok Sabha during the introduction of the government's flagship, according to sources cited by NDTV.

Earlier, the party had sent a three-line memo to its Lok Sabha members, directing them to be present in the House.

However, the absence of MPs did not hinder the introduction of the two bills meant to amend the Constitution and permit simultaneous parliamentary and state elections, including union territories.