'One Nation, One Election' Bill To Be Introduced In Lok Sabha Today, Congress Issues Whip To MPs

Meghwal will request Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to refer the Bill to a Joint Committee of Parliament for wider consultations.

The Congress and Shiv Sena have issued a whip to their Lok Sabha MPs.

Source : PTI

The 'One Nation One Election' Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday and it could be referred to a join committee of the two Houses. The Lok Sabha agenda said the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, popularly being referred to as the Bill on "one nation, one election", will be introduced by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.

Meghwal will request Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to refer the Bill to a Joint Committee of Parliament for wider consultations. The joint panel will be constituted on a pro-rata basis based on the strength of MPs of various parties, PTI reported. The BJP will get the chairmanship of the committee since it's the largest party, a functionary said on Monday.

If the parties do not inform the speaker about the members they wish to send on the panel, according to rules, they may lose membership. The speaker will announce the committee's composition by the evening on the day the Bill is introduced, the functionary said.

Initially, the tenure of the proposed committee will be for 90 days but it may be extended later.

The minister will also introduce the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which seeks to align the elections of the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry and the NCT of Delhi.

The Congress and Shiv Sena have issued a whip to their Lok Sabha MPs, mandating their presence in the House.

Sena MP Shrirang Barne, who is the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, issued the whip saying "some very important issue/legislative business" is to be discussed and passed in the House.

The Shiv Sena, led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, is an ally of the BJP.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was a member of the high-level committee led by former president Ram Nath Kovind that recommended holding Lok Sabha, state assembly and local body elections simultaneously in a phased manner, is likely to be present in the Lower House at the time of Bill's introduction, the functionary said.