The government seems all set to introduce three Bills to implement ‘One nation, one election’ in the ongoing session of Parliament as the Union Cabinet is believed to have approved all on Thursday.

Since the winter session of Parliament is under way, there is no formal announcement about the approvals of the Bills. It is expected that post introduction of the Bills, they will be referred to a Parliamentary panel. There are three Bills based on the recommendations of a high level committee under the Chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind.

One of the proposed Constitution amendment Bills, that deals with aligning the local bodies’ elections to that of the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies, will require an endorsement from at least 50 per cent of the States.

Sources said the proposed first constitutional amendment Bill would deal with making provisions for holding Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly elections together.

Article 82A amendment

Citing recommendations of the high-level committee, sources said the proposed Bill would seek to amend Article 82A by adding sub-clause (1) relating to the ‘appointed date’. It will also seek to insert sub-clause (2) to Article 82A relating to the end of terms of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies together.

It also proposes to amend Article 83(2) and insert new sub-clauses (3) and (4) relating to the duration and dissolution of the Lok Sabha. It also has provisions related to the dissolution of the legislative assemblies and amending Article 327 to insert the term “simultaneous elections”.

This Bill will not require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the States, the recommendation said.

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.

It will seek to amend constitutional provisions relating to the preparation of electoral rolls by the Election Commission (EC) in consultation with State Election Commissions (SECs) for elections to local bodies. 

The EC holds elections to the post of the President, the Vice-President, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State assemblies and State legislative councils while the SECs are mandated to conduct polls to local bodies such as municipalities and panchayats.

The Bill will also create provisions to hold simultaneous elections to municipalities and panchayats, along with elections to the Lok Sabha and State legislative assemblies by inserting a new Article 324A.

Third Bill

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 statutes it proposes to amend are the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act-1991, the Government of Union Territories Act-1963 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act-2019.

The proposed Bill will be an ordinary legislation not requiring a change in the Constitution and will also not need ratification by the States.

The high-level committee had proposed amendments to three Articles, insertion of 12 new sub-clauses in the existing articles and tweaking three laws related to Union Territories having legislative assemblies. The total number of amendments and new insertions stands at 18.