The Government on Tuesday took the first step towards implementing the ruling BJP’s long-pending promise of holding simultaneous elections to parliament and state assemblies by introducing a Constitution amendment bill and an ordinary bill in the Lok Sabha.
The Opposition dubbed the result of division for adoption of the motion for the introduction — 269 members in favor and 198 against – as evidence of the government not being able to secure a two-third majority in the House which is essential to pass any bill. to amend the Constitution.
However, for simple introduction of the bill, a two-thirds majority is not required and the bills have now been sent for scrutiny before a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
The BJP, which had issued a three-line whip for its members, is likely to issue show cause notices to at least 20 MPs who were not present in the House. The Opposition said it reflected the fate of the bills in the foreseeable future.
“The vast majority of the opposition parties have opposed this bill and the grounds are very many; it is a violation of the federal structure of the Constitution. Why should a state government fall if the central government falls?” asked Shashi Tharoor of the Congress, adding, “My view is that this entire thing is a folly. In any case, the votes today have demonstrated that the BJP does not have the two-third majority required to pass a Constitutional amendment.
Beginning the 90-minute debate on the introduction of the bill, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal assured that powers of states would not be tampered. Home Minister Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had favored referring the bills to a joint committee of Parliament for wider deliberations at every level. “Detailed discussions can take place in the JPC. The report of the JPC will be approved by the Cabinet. Then again, there will be a discussion on this (bills) in the House,” Shah said.
The first bill, the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, proposes to insert a new Article 82A (Simultaneous elections to the House of the People 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).
“The tenure of the House of the People shall be five years from that appointed date. The tenure of all Legislative Assemblies, constituted by elections to the Legislative Assemblies after the appointed date and before the expiry of the full term of the House of the People, shall come to an end on the expiry of the full term of the House of the People,” the statement and object of the bill said.
The Second bill “the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Act” is an ordinary bill and not required to be endorsed by half of the States unlike the Constitution Amendment. It proposes to make consequential amendments in the Government of Union Territories Act, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, and in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 “to align the holding of simultaneous elections along with the House of the People and State Legislative Assemblies.”