The One Nation, One Election Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha today (December 17), triggering protests from the opposition. Two bills — the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill — aiming at facilitating simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies were introduced by Law Minister Arjun Meghwal. Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking in the Lok Sabha, suggested that the bill could be sent to a parliamentary panel for debate.
“We can send it to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) as the Prime Minister also wanted this. DMK’s TR Baalu said the bill should be sent to JPC. The Prime Minister himself has said that we are ready to send this to JPC,” said Amit Shah in Lok Sabha.
The tabling of the bill drew sharp criticism from the opposition, with leaders like Supriya Sule from the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), Congress' Manish Tewari, Trinamool's Kalyan Banerjee, Samajwadi Party's Dharmendra Yadav, and DMK's TR Baalu leading the attack.
Congress MP Manish Tiwari opposed the One Nation One Election bill, saying that it challenges the basic structure of the Constitution.
Samajwadi MP Dharmendra Yadav, on behalf of Akhilesh Yadav, opposed the bill, accusing the BJP government of imposing dictatorship. He said that the bill will end the diversity of India, and its federal structure.
As the Opposition protested the bill, Law minister Arjun Meghwal said that "objections to the One Nation One Election bill are political in nature".
The One Nation One Election bill tabled in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, has emerged as the latest point of contention between the BJP and its allies and the INDIA bloc. While the BJP and its allies have backed the bill, several opposition parties, including Congress, Samajwadi Party, and Shiv Sena (UBT) have opposed it.
While a total of 32 parties are supporting the One Nation One Election move, 15 others are opposing it. Fence sitters like Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSRCP have also backed the legislation that would enable simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha as well as state assemblies.
Source: India Today