The Union government will introduce the One Nation, One Election (ONOP) Bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, December 17.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued a three-line whip to all MPs in Lok Sabha ahead of the introduction of the bill.
The listed agenda of Lok Sabha for December 17 also includes the The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill concerning simultaneous elections and will be introduced by Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal.
Following this announcement, BJP's National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) also issued a whip to all its MPs in the Lok Sabha, and the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) have asked all MPs to be present in the House.
The Union Cabinet approved the One Nation One Election bill earlier this month.
After its introduction, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal is expected to 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.
While the BJP and its allies are in support of the Bill, several opposition parties including Congress, Trinamool Congress and DMK are opposed to it. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has condemned the Bill, saying, “It will push the country into the perils of unitary form of governance, killing its diversity and democracy in the process.”
The Union Cabinet had in September accepted the recommendations of the High-Level Committee on simultaneous elections. The panel was headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind.
The recommendations were outlined in a report by a high-level panel chaired by former President Kovind.
The panel recommended the implementation of simultaneous polls in two phases. It recommended holding Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously in the first phase and conducting local body elections (panchayat and municipalities) within 100 days of general elections.
Other bills likely to be introduced are a Bill an amendment to the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. These bills seek to align elections for Assemblies in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry for purposes of simultaneous elections.