Law Commission may recommend adding a new chapter in the Constitution on ‘One Nation, One Election’
New Delhi:
Sources said the Law Commission is likely to recommend adding a new chapter in the Constitution on ‘one nation, one election’ and conducting a massive democratic process of holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies across the country by mid-2029. Could. Today.
Sources told the Press Trust of India that the commission under Justice (retd) Ritu Raj Awasthi will recommend an amendment to the Constitution to add a “new chapter or part” on simultaneous elections.
The panel will also recommend synchronizing the terms of legislative assemblies in “three phases” over the next five years so that the first simultaneous elections are held in May-June 2029 when elections for the 19th Lok Sabha are scheduled.
The new chapter of the Constitution will cover issues relating to “simultaneous elections”, “sustainability of simultaneous elections” and “common electoral roll” for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, panchayats and municipalities to enable three-tier simultaneous elections. Together “at once”, he explained.
The new Chapter being recommended would have a non-existing power to override other provisions of the Constitution relating to the terms of the Assemblies.
The five-year period in which the legislatures’ terms will be synchronized will be spread over three phases. The Commission will recommend that the first phase deal with state legislatures whose duration would have to be reduced by a few months – three or six months.
If a government falls due to no-confidence or there is a hung House, the Commission will recommend the formation of a “unity government” with representatives from different political parties.
If the unity government formula does not work, the law panel will recommend fresh elections for the remaining term of the House.
“Suppose fresh elections are required and the government still has three years, then elections should be held for the remaining term – three years – to ensure stability,” a source said.
Apart from the Law Commission, a high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind is also working on a report on how to conduct simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats by making changes to the Constitution and the existing legal framework. Can go. ,
With the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to be held in April-May this year, elections to at least five assemblies are likely to be held, while state elections for Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand are expected later this year.
Assembly elections are to be held in Bihar and Delhi next year, while elections are to be held in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala in 2026 and Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur in 2027.
Assembly elections may be held in at least nine states in 2028 – Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Karnataka, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
