The ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill was introduced in the parliament on Tuesday afternoon. 269 MPs voted in its favour and 198 against it in the Lok Sabha. The Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal introduced two bills that would enable simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha along with the state assemblies and Union Territories. However, the bills faced fierce pushback from the opposition parties.
The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Meghwal after a nearly 90-minute debate, followed by voting. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had favoured referring the bills to a joint committee of Parliament for wider deliberations at every level.
Congress termed the bill ‘unconstitutional’
As soon as the bill was introduced, the Congress party expressed its firm rejection and called it ‘unconstitutional’. Congress leaders Manish Tewari and Gaurav Gogoi strongly opposed the introduction of the Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
Parties supporting and opposing the Bill
Several political parties are supporting the ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill, while many parties are also opposing it. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) are in support of the Bill. Several Opposition parties, including Congress, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC), Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) are opposing it.
List of parties supporting the One Nation One Election Bill:
- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
- National People’s Party (NPP)
- All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)
- All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU)
- Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
- Apna Dal Soneylal (ADS)
- Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)
- Biju Janata Dal (BJD)
- Janata Dal United (JDU)
- Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (LJP-RV)
- Mizo National Front (MNF)
- Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP)
- Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)
- Telugu Desam Party (TDP)
- Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK)
- Republican Party of India-Athawale (RPI-A)
- Tamil Maanila Congress-Moopanar (TMC-M)
- Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM)
- Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP)
- Gorkha National Liberal Front (GNLF)
- Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM)
- Indian Makkal Kalvi Munnetra Kazhagam (IMKMK)
- Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP)
- Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT)
- Jan Surajya Shakti (JSS)
- Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP)
- Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP)
- Nishad Party
- Puthiya Needhi Katchi (PNK)
- Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
- Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP)
- Shiv Sena (SHS)
- Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM)
- United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL)
- Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS)
List of parties opposing the One Nation One Election Bill:
- Indian National Congress (INC)
- Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
- Indian Union Muslim League (IUML)
- Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
- Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)
- Samajwadi Party (SP)
- All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF)
- Trinamool Congress (TMC)
- All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)
- Communist Party of India (CPI)
- Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
- Naga People’s Front (NPF)
- Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK)
- Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK)
- Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation (CPI-ML)
- Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)
- Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI)
- Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar: (NCP-SP)
- Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)
- Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP)