One Nation One Election Bill: Everything You Need to Know

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the 129th Constitution Amendment Bill 2024 and the’ Union Territories  Amendment Bill 2024’ in the Lok Sabha to provide for One Nation One Election. The constitutional amendment bill and the Union Territories  Amendment Bill’ provides for simultaneous election to the Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies in the State and Union Territories having legislative assemblies (Puducherry, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir).

After voting in the Lok Sabha, the bill was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee which will examine the bill. The Joint Parliamentary Committee consists of members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in a 2:1 ratio in favour of Lok Sabha members.

One Nation One Election in the country

The bill was introduced by the central government in the Lok Sabha after the government accepted the recommendation of the ‘High level Committee on Simultaneous Elections’ headed by former President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.

The Ram Nath Kovind Committee was set up by the government of India on 2 September 2023 and submitted its recommendation to the government on 14 March 2024.

Provisions of the 129th Constitution Amendment bill 

The 129th Constitutional Amendment bill seeks to amend Articles 82, 83,172 and 327 of the Constitution.

Provisions regarding Article 82 

Article 82 will be amended, and Article 82 A, clauses 2,3,4,5,,6 and 7 will be introduced.

Proposed amendments are as follows;

• Article 812 (A)The -President will issue a notification on the first day of the sitting of the newly constituted House of the People (Lok Sabha), and that date shall be called the appointed date.
• After the expiry of the five-year term of the newly constituted Lok Sabha, the term of all the Legislative Assemblies will also end, even if their five-year term has not been completed.
• The Election Commission will conduct simultaneous elections of the Lok Sabha and all the State Assemblies to constitute a new Lok Sabha and a new State Assemblies.
• If the Election Commission feels that it cannot conduct a free and fair election of a state Legislative Assembly along with the Lok Sabha election, then it may recommend to the President the assembly election in that state at a later date.
• However, if an election in such a state is held at a later date, then the term of the newly constituted state assembly will end with the term of the Lok Sabha.
• The Election Commission will specify the date on which the term of such state assembly will end.

Provisions regarding Article 83 

Article 83 will be amended, and clauses 3,4,5 and 7  will be inserted.

The main points of the newly inserted clause are as follows;

• The term of the Lok Sabha shall be five years from the date of the first meeting of the house.
• If the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the completion of its five-year term, then a fresh election will take place.
• All the bills and resolutions pending in the Lok Sabha will lapse with the dissolution of the house.
• The election to constitute a new election for the Lok Sabha will be called mid-term elections.
• The newly elected Lok Sabha will have a remainder of the term of the previously dissolved Lok Sabha. (It means that if the previous Lok Sabha was dissolved prematurely and had two years of its five-year term left, then the newly elected Lok Sabha will have a term of only two years.)

Provisions regarding Article 172

Article 172 will be amended, and clauses 1A, 3,4 and 5 will be inserted . The main points of the newly inserted clause are as follows;

• Article 172 clause 1A-  the term of a state Legislative Assembly shall be five years from the date of the first meeting of the house.
• If the Legislative Assembly is dissolved before the completion of its five-year term, then a fresh election will take place.
• All the bills and resolutions pending in the Legislative Assembly will lapse with the dissolution of the house.
• The election to constitute a new Legislative Assembly will be called mid-term elections.
• The newly elected Legislative Assembly will have a remainder of the term of the previously dissolved Legislative Assembly.

Provisions regarding Article 327

• Article 327 will be amended, and the words “conduct of simultaneous elections” will be inserted after the “ delimitation of constituencies” words.

General Election and Mid-term Election 

The 129th constitutional amendment bill defines ‘general election’ and mid-term elections. 

General election refers to the election to constitute a new Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies for a full five-year term.

Mid-term election refers to the election held to constitute a new Lok Sabha or a State Legislative Assembly due to the premature dissolution of the Lok Sabha or the State Assembly, respectively. 

Simultaneous Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections in India 

After the promulgation of the constitution on 26 January 1950, the first general election was held in India in 1951-1952. Elections were held simultaneously to elect a  Lok Sabha and the state Legislative Assemblies in the countries.

It was again held simultaneously in 1957,1962 and 1967.

Until 1967, the Congress Party was in power at the centre and the state. In the 1967 election, opposition parties came to power in a few states.

However, due to the premature dissolution of some legislative assemblies in 1968 and 1969, the tradition of holding elections simultaneously with the Lok Sabha was broken.

At that time, the simultaneous holding of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections was a convention, but the 129 constitutional amendment bill seeks to make it a law.

Many opposition parties are in opposition of the bill as they feel that it is against the federal character of the constitution.

Federal features have been mentioned as the basic structure of the constitution and as per the Kesavananda Bharati case 1973, the Supreme Court held that the Parliament cannot amend the basic structure of the constitution.

Government Reason for One Nation One Election

The government has justified the simultaneous election of the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies for the following reasons;

• Holding separate elections has become expensive and time-consuming.
• The imposition of a Model Code of Conduct just before the election adversely affects the administration and development projects as the government cannot announce new projects during this period.
• It also disrupts the normal functioning of the administration, causing disruption of normal public life. The government staff and its machinery are diverted for the conduction of election,s which hampers the other functions of the government departments.

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