'One Nation One Election' Bill approved by Union Cabinet

The government is keen on holding wider consultations on bills which are likely to be referred to a parliamentary committee.

New Delhi: In a major step towards implementing 'one nation, one election', the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved the constitutional amendment bill, which aims to hold simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

The government is likely to introduce the bill early next week in the Lok Sabha, and the draft legislation for constitutional amendment could be named as "The Constitution 129 (Amendment) Bill", sources said. The government is likely to send the bill to a Joint Committee of Parliament for wider consultation with various parties.

Two draft legislations, including one simple bill to amend provisions in laws dealing with three Union territories with legislative assemblies to align them with the constitutional amendment bill, were given the nod by the Cabinet.

Holding simultaneous polls was one of the BJP's main planks during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. A high-level committee led by former president Ram Nath Kovind had submitted its report in this regard to the previous NDA government in March.

Though the panel also suggested holding municipality and panchayat elections along with national and state elections in a phased manner, the Cabinet has decided to stay away, "as of now", from the manner in which local body elections are conducted, the sources said. It would have required ratification by half of the state assemblies. But the Union Cabinet has kept the local body polls out as of now.

The proposed bill will require a simple majority for passage in both the Houses.

Since a single electoral roll is used by the Election Commission to hold both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, the proposed bill does not refer to a common electoral roll.

Though the BJP's allies are supporting the concept, the National Democratic Alliance will still need backing from some of the opposition INDIA bloc members besides fence-sitters to ensure the passage of the constitutional amendment bill requiring support from two-thirds of the members in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

LJP leader and Union Minister Chirag Paswan told reporters that the process to implement simultaneous polls has formally begun, asserting that this is in the interest of the country's development.

Reacting to the Cabinet decision, the Congress accused the government of trying to divert attention from "questions being raised on the electoral integrity of the democratic system".

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal in a post on X said, "The country needs One Nation, One Education, and One Nation, One Healthcare System, not One Nation, One Election. This reflects BJP's misplaced priorities."

DMK leader Tiruchi Siva said his party opposed the bill. "Let them bring it, my party is totally against it, we have too many questions to raise, and they have to be replied comprehensively," he said.