The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 and The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, were formally introduced in the Lok Sabha after members voted on them. The bill proposes ‘One Nation, One Election,’ or simultaneous elections to both the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. It will now be sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed discussions.
The one nation, one election bill faced criticism from the parties of the opposition bloc INDIA, including Congress and the Samajwadi Party. Congress MP Manish Tewari on Tuesday said that the party voted against the introduction of the ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill. “We voted against the introduction of the bill. If the government wants to refer it to the JPC, that’s their prerogative,” Tewari told ANI.
Earlier in the day, Manish Tewari argued that the “One Nation, One Election” Bill goes against the basic structure of the Constitution while registering his opposition. Tewari stated that the bill would disrupt the balance between the central and state governments and undermine India’s federal system.
Speaking on the bill, Tewari said, “It militates against the basic structure of the Constitution. India is a union of states, so you cannot arbitrarily cut short the tenure of state assemblies.”
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday opposed the “One Nation, One Election” bill, alleging that it could pave the way for dictatorship by centralising power and undermining India’s democratic system. Yadav also slammed the proposal for allegedly threatening the federal structure of the country and diminishing the role of states.
Yadav, in a post on X, explained what he claimed to be the undemocratic nature of the concept. “In democratic contexts, the word ‘one’ itself is undemocratic. Democracy favours plurality. The feeling of ‘one’ has no place for others. This violates social tolerance. The feeling of ‘one’ at the individual level gives birth to ego and turns power into dictatorship,” he said.
Underlining the potential harm the bill might cause to India’s federal structure, the SP President alleged, “The decision of ‘One Nation, One Election’ will prove fatal for true democracy. It will also deal a big blow to the federal structure of the country. This will eliminate the importance of regional issues, and the public will remain trapped in the illusion of big superficial issues which are beyond their reach.”
Congress MP Rajiv Shukla says, “It is good that the bill was sent to JPC. We were also demanding the same. There should be detailed discussions of the bill in the JPC. There are many shortcomings in the bill…”
Speaking on One Nation One Election, Shiv Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that it is anti-constitution, anti-democracy, and anti-federal structure. “It is good that it is sent to the JPC because it will become a voice of all the political parties. One Nation, One Election is anti-constitution, anti-democracy, and anti-federal structure… This is not going to save any money,” the Shiv Sena MP.
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