The Constitutional Amendment Bill regarding the simultaneous elections was introduced in the Lok Sabha after the first-ever e-voting in the Parliament. The motion of introduction was passed with a majority. A total of 269 votes were polled in favour of the motion while 198 were polled against the motion.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal laid down two bills regarding the One Nation, One Elections – a Constitutional Amendment Bill and an Ordinary Bill- which followed a fierce debate. The Congress demanded the bill to be withdrawn.
Opposition dubs bill as against basic structure of Constitution
Senior Congress leader and former Minister Manish Tewari dubbed the bill as against the Constitution. He said that beyond Schedule 7 is the basic structure that can not be changed and the bill in question is an assault on the Constitution.
He demanded the bill to be withdrawn immediately. Following Tewari’s opposition, several other opposition parties iterated a similar stance that the bill is against the spirit of the Constitution. SP leader Dharmendra Yadav, TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee and DMK’s TR Balu, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi were among the prominent names who opposed the bill.
Parties who opposed Bill
A total of 15 parties opposed the bill including,
- Congress
- TMC
- DMK
- AIMIM
- Shiv Sena (UBT)
- NCP (SCP)
- SP
Parties who supported Bill
A total of 32 parties supported the bill inclduing,
- BJP
- TDP
- Shiv Sena
- YSRCP
- JDU
- BRS
- AIADMK
‘State legislatures not at mercy of Centre’: Kalyan Banerjee
Kalyan Banerjee came down heavily on the government and said that the bill is against the federalism feature which is the basic structure of the Constitution. He slammed the govt and said, “The state legislatures are not at the mercy of Centre.” He was apparently referring to the provision of dissolving the state governments prior to the completion of their respective terms.
Asaduddin Owaisi said, “I oppose this draconian and unconstitutional bill. This bill indirectly introduces the presidential style of democracy, this bill is based on maximizing political gain and convenience. This bill will finish off regional parties. This bill is only brought in to massage the ego of the supreme leader. I oppose the bill.”
Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi called the bill an assault on the right to vote. The prime concern of multiple parties was that the
Amit Shah endorces JPC demand
However, the BJP-allied parties including the TDP, Shiv Sena and others backed the bill. Fence sitter parties like YSRCP also supported the bill. Meanwhile, the demand for sending the bill to JPC was also raised. Reacting to the demands, Union Home Minister Amit Shah endorsed it saying that when the bill was approved in the Cabinet PM Modi had too nodded to send the bill to the JPC.
He said, “When One Nation One Election bills came up in Cabinet, PM Modi said this should be referred to the Joint Committee of Parliament. There should be a detailed discussion over it at every level.”
As the protest erupted over the bill, Meghwal said that “objections to the One Nation One Election bill are political in nature”. The opposition sought the division of votes for the introduction of the bill. After the first-ever e-voting and subsequent count by paper slips, the bill was finally introduced in the Lok Sabha. This was the first time that the electronic voting system was used in the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament House.
(With inputs from agencies)
