Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament PP Chaudhary was appointed as the Chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal on Friday. In a significant development, the government expanded the committee, increasing its membership from 31 MPs to 39. The revised committee now includes 27 members from the Lok Sabha and 12 from the Rajya Sabha.
This move is aimed at ensuring broader representation across political parties. The updated list of Lok Sabha members includes representatives from the Shiv Sena (UBT), CPI(M), and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), along with additional members from the BJP and the Samajwadi Party.
The JPC now includes 39 members, with 16 from the BJP, five from Congress, two each from the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress (TMC), and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and one member each from other parties like Shiv Sena, TDP, JD(U), RLD, LJP (Ram Vilas), JSP, Shiv Sena-UBT, NCP-SP, CPI(M), AAP, BJD, and YSRCP.
The list of members also features key political figures such as BJP MPs PP Chaudhary, Dr. C.M. Ramesh, Bansuri Swaraj, Parshottambhai Rupala, Anurag Singh Thakur, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Dr. Sambit Patra, Anil Baluni, Vishnu Datt Sharma, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The Congress party is represented by Manish Tewari, Sukhdeo Bhagat, Dharmendra Yadav, and Kalyan Banerjee. Other notable members include T.M. Selvaganapathi, G.M. Harish Balayogi, Supriya Sule, Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Chandan Chauhan, and Balashowry Vallabhaneni.
The JPC has been tasked with scrutinizing two Bills that propose simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and state assemblies—the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024. These Bills aim to amend the Constitution and facilitate holding elections on a single schedule across the country.
While the proposal has garnered support from the government, it has faced substantial resistance from Opposition parties. Critics argue that the move could centralize power with the ruling party, giving it an undue advantage in state elections and undermining the autonomy of regional parties. The Opposition has raised concerns about the potential impact of ‘One Nation, One Election’ on the democratic framework of the country.
The introduction of the Bills in Parliament triggered a division vote, with 269 members voting in favor and 196 opposing the proposal. Despite the opposition, the government is determined to push ahead with the proposal, with the JPC now set to examine the implications and feasibility of simultaneous elections in India.
