One Nation, One Election Bill Fails To Get 2/3rd Majority In Its Favour, Will Be Sent To Joint Parliamentary Panel

New Delhi: After Union Law Minister introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024′ and ‘The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024’ in Lok Sabha, e-voting was conducted, following which the same was sent to Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed discussion. The Opposition parties, including the INDIA Bloc, vehemently opposed the bill in the lower house, dubbing it as anti-Constitutional and an attack on the country’s federal structure.

According to reports, 263 votes were in favour of the bill, while 198 against it.  “Two-third majority was needed for the amendment to be passed, and that means the total members present were 461, in that, 2/3rd means 307 was needed but the government got 263 and the opposition got 198. Therefore, they did not get 2/3rd. This bill does not have the support of the opposition and many parties have spoken against it. Now it is very clear that this bill is just going to be referred to some other committees. It is not going to happen,”Congress MP Manickam Tagore told ANI.

The Opposition legislators also stated that the government should not persist it as they lack the two-third majority of the lower house in the matter. “…Undoubtedly the government has larger numbers on its side than us. In the JPC, however, they may even have a majority in terms of the composition of the JPC but to pass it as a constitutional amendment, you need a 2/3 majority that they very clearly don’t have. It’s obvious that they should not persist too long with this…” said Congress MP, Shashi Tharoor.

Some legislators even wanted the bill to be withdrawn. “DMK has been opposing this bill. We think it is unconstitutional, against federalism and against the will of the people. We want this bill to be withdrawn but for now, they have sent it to the JPC,” DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi told the ANI.

Speaking in the House Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MP ET Muhammed Basheer said,”I express my very strong opposition to this Bill because this is an attack on the democracy and Constitution and federalism of India. If this Amendment is implemented, some states will have tenure for less than 3 years…”

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed the House that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to have a detailed discussion on the bill. “When One Nation, One Election bills came up in Cabinet, PM Modi said this should be referred to Joint Committee of Parliament. There should be a detailed discussion over it at every level,” Shah said. Once approved, the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, popularly referred to as the Bill on “One Nation, One Election”, will ensure Lok Sabha, Assembly, and local body (urban or rural) elections are held in the same year, if not on the same dates.