Bill on simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies likely to be introduced in Lower House

Draft bill has provisions that allows Election Commission to recommend the election of an Assembly later if it is not possible to hold Lok Sabha polls later

The Union government is all set to introduce the Constitution Amendment bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (December 17, 2024), seeking to put in place a mechanism to implement simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies.

Though the bill is likely to be referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament after being introduced in the Lok Sabha, the BJP and its allies have issued a three-line whip, asking its members to be present in the House.

Also read:The pros and cons of simultaneous elections | Explained

With Chief Ministers like M.K. Stalin (Tamil Nadu) and Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal) from the Opposition strongly protesting against the bill, several Opposition members have given notices to the Lok Sabha Speaker, opposing the introduction of the bill on grounds of legislative competence.

Interestingly, the bill, which has been circulated among MPs, has a provision that states that the President can issue an order, stating that polls of an Assembly which cannot go to elections with the Lok Sabha can go for the democratic exercise later.

According to Section 2 sub-clause 5 of the Constitution (129th) Amendment Bill: “If the Election Commission is of the opinion that the elections to any Legislative Assembly cannot be conducted along with the general election to the House of the People, it may make a recommendation to the President, to declare by an order, that the election to that Legislative Assembly may be conducted at a later date.”

The bill seeks to insert a new article in the Constitution and amend three articles to put in place the mechanism to hold simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and Assemblies. It seeks to insert a new article 82A — simultaneous elections to the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and all legislative Assemblies and to amend Article 83 (Duration of Houses of Parliament), Article 172 (Duration of State Legislatures) and Article 327 (power of Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to Legislatures).

Published - December 16, 2024 11:18 pm IST