priyanka-anurag-among-mps-in-jpc-reviewing-onoe-bill

The One Nation One Election bill, introduced in Parliament by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday, has now set in motion a parliamentary review.

 

A joint parliamentary committee (JPC) consisting of 31 Members of Parliament (MPs), including Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Supriya Sule, and BJP leader and Union Minister Anurag Thakur, has been formed to examine the bill.

The committee, which includes 21 Lok Sabha MPs and 10 Rajya Sabha MPs, will study the constitutional amendments necessary to hold simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. The panel will be headed by BJP MP PP Chaudhary.

The committee is tasked with reviewing the proposed amendments and consulting stakeholders, with a deadline of 90 days for its report, although an extension may be requested.

The ruling BJP, as the largest party in the Lok Sabha, is expected to have a dominant role in the committee's functioning.

However, the proposal has met with significant opposition, with critics arguing that the move will lead to a concentration of power and undermine states’ autonomy.

The Congress party has particularly accused the BJP of using the initiative as a step towards establishing a presidential system of governance.

In response, the BJP defended the proposal, arguing that simultaneous elections would reduce costs, combat voter fatigue, and ensure governance continuity.

Simultaneous elections were the norm in India from 1951-52 until 1967 but were discontinued after various legislative assemblies and the Lok Sabha were dissolved in the late 1960s.

The One Nation One Election bill requires a simple majority to be introduced but will need a two-thirds majority to pass.

At present, the BJP-led NDA holds 293 seats in the Lok Sabha, while the Congress-led INDIA alliance has 234. Even with full attendance, the NDA will need to garner support from other parties, including fence-sitters like YSR Congress, BJD, and AIADMK, who have expressed support for simultaneous elections.

Here is the list of MPs who are part of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to study the One Nation One Election bill:

Lok Sabha MPs:

1. PP Chaudhary
2. CM Ramesh
3. Bansuri Swaraj
4. Parshottambhai Rupala
5. Anurag Thakur
6. Vishnu Dayal Ram
7. Brartruhari Mahtab
8. Sambit Patra
9. Anil Baluni
10. Vishnu Datt Sharma
11. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
12. Manish Tewari
13. Sukhdeo Bhagat
14. Dharmendra Yadav
15. Kalyan Banerjee
16. TM Selvaganapathi
17. GM Harish Balayogi
18. Supriya Sule
19. Shrikant Shinde
20. Chandan Chauhan
21. Balashowry Vallabhaneni

Rajya Sabha MPs:

• 10 MPs from the Rajya Sabha will also be part of the committee, but their names are not provided in the original report.

These MPs will review the bill and consult stakeholders within the next 90 days.