On Tuesday, December 17, the government took the initial step toward fulfilling the BJP’s long-awaited promise of holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, under the initiative known as "One Nation, One Election."
Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal speaks in Lok Sabha during the Winter Session of Parliament. (Sansad TV/Youtube)
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal presented two Bills in the Lok Sabha: one is a Constitution Amendment Bill aimed at aligning the terms of the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, and the other is a consequential Bill to amend relevant Acts for Union Territories and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, facilitating simultaneous elections in these areas as well.
What amendments to the Constitution have been proposed?
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 aims to amend three existing articles of the Constitution and introduce a new one, Article 82A.
These proposed changes were suggested by the High-Level Committee on One Nation, One Election, led by former President Ram Nath Kovind, which presented its report to President Droupadi Murmu in March of this year.
What exactly is Article 82A, the recent addition to the Constitution?
This is suggested to be inserted after Article 82, which deals with the redistribution of Lok Sabha seats among states following each decennial Census. According to the draft Bill, Article 82A mandates the holding of simultaneous elections for both the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
The first clause of the new article states: “The President may by a public notification issued on the date of the first sitting of the House of the People after a general election, bring into force the provision of this article, and that date of the notification shall be called the appointed date.”
The second clause of the proposed new article states that the terms of all legislative Assemblies elected after the appointed date, but before the expiration of the full term of the Lok Sabha, "shall conclude upon the expiration of the full term of the House of the People."
This implies that the five-year terms of certain state Assemblies will be shortened to facilitate the conduct of simultaneous elections.
Article 82A(3) states that the Election Commission "shall conduct general elections for the House of the People and all Legislative Assemblies at the same time."
Article 82A(4) defines simultaneous elections as "general elections held to form the House of the People and all Legislative Assemblies together."
The fifth clause allows the Election Commission of India to choose not to conduct a specific Assembly election alongside the Lok Sabha election.
“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,” draft Article 82A(5) says.
The following clause, Article 82A(6), states that if the Assembly election is postponed, the entire term of that Assembly will conclude simultaneously with the full term of the Lok Sabha elected in the general election.
Which articles are proposed for amendment, and in what way?
These are Articles 83, 172, and 327 of the Constitution:
ARTICLE 83: The Bill suggests adding five new clauses to Article 83, which addresses the duration of the Houses of Parliament.
The current Article 83 contains two clauses—one relating to the Rajya Sabha and the other to the five-year term of the Lok Sabha. The Bill introduces clauses three through seven to Article 83, which address the scenario of mid-term elections.
Clause 83(3) defines the "full term of the House of the People" as the five-year period from the first meeting of the Lok Sabha.
The next clause specifies that if the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the end of its term, the period between the dissolution and the completion of five years from its first meeting will be considered the unexpired term.
Article 83(5) states that the newly elected Lok Sabha, after such a dissolution, will serve for the unexpired term of the preceding Lok Sabha.
The subsequent clause clarifies that the new House will not be a continuation of the old one.
Lastly, Article 83(7) designates the election held to fill the "unexpired term" as a "mid-term election," with the following election being termed a general election.
ARTICLE 172: This article concerns the duration of state legislative assemblies. The amendment proposes four new clauses, which mirror the changes made in the new clauses of Article 83 (concerning Parliament). In the event of a dissolution of a state assembly before the completion of its term, an election will be held for the unexpired term of the preceding assembly.
ARTICLE 327: The Bill suggests modifying this article, which grants Parliament the authority to make provisions for elections to state legislatures.
The existing article says: “…Parliament may from time to time…make provision with respect to all matters relating to, or in connection with, elections to either House of Parliament or to the House or either House of the Legislature of a State including the preparation of electoral rolls, the delimitation of constituencies and all other matters necessary for securing the due constitution of such House or Houses.”
The amendment suggests adding the phrase “conduct of simultaneous elections” immediately after “delimitation of constituencies.”
What changes are suggested in the Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill), 2024?
The Bill suggests amendments to the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
These amendments will modify the provisions related to the duration of the legislative Assemblies of the Union Territories, aligning them with the changes made in the Constitution amendment Bill for state Assemblies.
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