One Nation One Election: If the bill is passed next year, then when will the elections be held simultaneously? Here is the answer to all your questions!

New Delhi: Taking a step forward in the direction of 'One Country-One Election', the Central Government on Tuesday introduced the 129th Amendment Bill of the Constitution and another bill related to it in the Lok Sabha amid strong opposition from the opposition parties. Then the opposition had termed this bill as dictatorship and demanded to send the Constitution Amendment Bill to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). In view of the challenge of gathering two-thirds majority for constitutional amendment and the demand of the opposition, the central government agreed to send both the bills to the JPC.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that when this bill came up for discussion in the Cabinet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talked about sending it to the JPC. Now both the bills – 129th Amendment of the Constitution and Union Territory Law Amendment Bill – will be sent to the JPC. The question is that the current session of Parliament is till 20th December. In such a situation, the bills will not be passed in this session of Parliament. If the bills are passed in Parliament without changes after getting the approval of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, then when will they come into force?

How will JPC be formed?

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) will have 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The number of members of each party will be decided according to the number of parties in Parliament. In such a situation, being the largest party, the maximum number of members and presidents can be from BJP.

What will JPC do?

JPC will have to do a lot of homework in this eight-page bill related to one country, one election. It has been proposed to add a new provision by making changes in three articles of the Constitution. In fact, by adding a new provision in Article 82, the President has been asked to take a decision on a fixed date. Let us tell you that Article 82 is about delimitation after census.

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When will JPC submit its report?

It may take almost the whole of 2025 to finalize the 129th Amendment of the Constitution and the Union Territory Law Amendment Bills. If this happens, both these bills will go to the House again in 2026. If the bill is passed with a special majority, the Election Commission will have only two years left to prepare for 2029. This is not enough time to conduct simultaneous elections in all the states and the entire country under One Nation One Election.

What will happen after the bill is passed?

This is the most important question that after the 2029 elections, the President will issue a notification and decide the date of the first meeting of the Lok Sabha. Elections will be held and then the full term of the Lok Sabha will be completed in 2034. With this, the tenure of all the assemblies will be considered complete, only then elections can be held simultaneously.

How much time is required for preparation?

If we look at the process so far, the timeline of 2034 matches the basic requirements. For one country one election, the Election Commission needs at least 46 lakh EVMs. At present the Election Commission has only 25 lakh machines. The expiry of the machines is 15 years. In such a situation, the life of 15 lakh machines will be completed in ten years. It may take 10 years to arrange the machines.