New Delhi, Dec 17 :
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday introduced the One Nation, One Election (ONOE) Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha, even as the Opposition parties termed it as an “assault” on the basic structure of the Constitution.
269 members voted in favour while 198 MPs opposed the motion moved by Meghwal to introduce the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Ninth Amendment) Bill 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill 2024 in the House.
The bill has been sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which would examine the proposed legislation.
The Law Minister also proposed amendments to the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, seeking to align the assembly elections in Puducherry, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir with the proposed framework for simultaneous elections.
The 129th Constitution Amendment Bill, 2024, popularly being referred to as the “One Nation, One Election” bill, will enable simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha as well as state and Union Territory assemblies.
The minister said ‘the Opposition’s criticism is primarily based on legislative competence’.
He countered the Opposition members’ contention that the bill violates Article 360 (A) of the Constitution and said the said Act empowers the legislature to introduce the amendments.
The minister also argued that Article 327 of the Constitution empowers Parliament to make amendments concerning elections to state Legislative Assemblies.
The bill drew sharp criticism from opposition parties, particularly those in the INDIA bloc, who contended that it would “destroy the federal structure” of the
One Nation One
country. Opposing the bill, Congress MP Manish Tewari said: “Beyond the seventh schedule of the Constitution is the basic structured doctrine and that basic structure doctrine spells out that there are certain features of the Indian Constitution which are beyond the amending power of this House also”.
The Congress MP said, “One of the essential features is federalism and the structure of our democracy. Therefore the bills which have been moved by the Minister of Law and Justice absolutely assault the basic structure of the Constitution…. and therefore they need to be opposed and the introduction of those bills have to be stopped.”
“The introduction and tabling of this bill is beyond the competence of this house and it should be withdrawn immediately,” he said.
Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav, while agreeing with Manish Tewari said that the bill has been brought to end the basic structure of the Constitution. He called the bill as “anti-Dalit, anti-Muslim and anti-OBC”.
Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee slammed the government and said these bills have hit the basic structure of the Constitution. He said: “Tenure of state legislatures cannot be subject to the tenure of Lok Sabha”.
“States are not subordinate to Parliament. These Bills take away the autonomy of the State legislatures. Proposed Article 82(5) gives enormous powers to the ECI and the ECI will decide whether or not to hold elections. We oppose these Bills,” he added.
Amid uproar, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, “The ONOE bill gives ‘illegal’ powers to Election Commission to advise the President.”
Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav called the bill “anti-Dalit, anti-Muslim and anti-OBC”.
DMK MP TR Baalu also spoke against the bill, wondering how the government was tabling it despite lacking a two-thirds majority in the House.
AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi described the bill as “draconian” and said it will singlehandedly finish all the regional parties in the country, and is only being introduced to “satisfy the ego of the supreme leader.”
“It (the bill) violates the basic structure of the Constitution and we oppose it”.
NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule too opposed the introduction of the bill calling it as an attack on the federalism and the Constitution and asked it be sent to JPC.
NK Premchandran of RSP and Amraram of CPI (M) too opposed the bil
The Telugu Desam, a member of the ruling BJP-led NDA, on the other hand, supported the proposed legislation, saying it will streamline the process of polls across the country.
Shiv Sena MP Srikanth Shinde, son of party chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, backed the bill. He claimed that the Opposition, especially Congress, over the past six months was trying to paint every reform as “unconstitutional.”
In a post on X, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the bill could pave the way for dictatorship by centralising power and undermining India’s democratic system. Yadav also alleged that the proposal has “threatened the federal structure of the country and diminished the role of states”.
In the post, Yadav explained what he claimed to be the “undemocratic nature” of the concept. “In democratic contexts, the word ‘one’ itself is undemocratic. Democracy favours plurality. The feeling of ‘one’ has no place for others. This violates social tolerance. The feeling of ‘one’ at the individual level gives birth to ego and turns power into dictatorship.”
The Bills were drafted as per the recommendations of a high-level committee, Chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, which was appointed by the Law Ministry on September 2, 2023.
