Govt mulls 3 Bills to implement ‘1 nation, 1 poll’

Days after bringing the Waqf Amendment Bill, the government is eyeing the possibility of bringing the required legislations to ensure the possibility of implementing its ambitious “One Nation One Election” concept, which is also part of the Centre’s 100 days agenda.

Its implementation though will depend a lot on the results of the Assembly elections in five states namely Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Delhi. The precursor to the Centre’s intention was the recent okay given by the Union Cabinet to the recommendation of the Ram Nath Kovind committee on “One Nation One Election”. It is known that in order to implement this concept, three Bills need to be introduced, as per the recommendations of the Kovind committee.

The proposed first constitutional amendment Bill would deal with making provisions for holding Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assembly elections together.

The proposed second Constitutional amendment Bill will require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the state Assemblies as it will deal with matters relating to state affairs.

This second Constitution amendment Bill will also create provisions to hold simultaneous elections to municipalities and panchayats, along with elections to Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies by inserting a new Article 324A. The third Bill will be an ordinary one to amend provisions in three laws dealing with Union Territories having Legislative Assemblies — Puducherry, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir — to align the terms of these Houses with other Legislative Assemblies and the Lok Sabha as proposed in the first constitutional amendment Bill.

The challenge however will the second constitution amendment Bill, which needs ratification by at least 50 per cent of the state Assemblies to hold simultaneous elections to municipalities and panchayats, along with elections to Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies by inserting a new Article 324A.

With elections in five states and with many states having non-BJP governments, the possibility of getting consent of 50 per cent Assemblies for this legislation looks politically bleak as of now. Therefore the possibility of these three Bills coming in the near future also looks uncertain.