ONOE bills introduced in LS; move unconstitutional says opposition

Two bills that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections in the country were introduced in Lok Sabha on Tuesday after a fiery debate with the opposition terming the move anticonstitutional and Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal asserting that the legislation would not tamper with the powers enjoyed by statesAmid uproar by the opposition Home Minister Amit Shah told Lok Sabha that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said during a meeting of the Union Cabinet that the bill should be referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for wider deliberations at every levelThe government is likely to move a resolution to refer the bill to the JPC on Wednesday in Lok SabhaThe Constitution 129th Amendment Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha by Meghwal after a nearly 90minute debate followed by a division of votes the first step towards completion of BJPs longcherished dreamAs many as 269 members voted in favour of introduction of the bill and 198 against itOpposition Congress DMK Trinamool Congress Samajwadi Party NCPSP Shiv SenaUBT AIMIM among others objected to the introduction of the bill contending that it was an assault on the basic structure of the ConstitutionDuring the consultations held by former president Ram Nath Kovindled high level committee on One Nation One Elections 32 political parties supported the measure and 15 parties opposed itYSRCP which has four members in Lok Sabha is the only nonNDA party to have declared support for the bill BJD another fence sitter is yet to spell out its standBJD failed to open its account in Lok Sabha in elections this year but has seven members in Rajya SabhaMeghwal also introduced The Union Territories Amendment Bill which seeks to align elections in the Union territories of Puducherry Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir with the Lok Sabha pollsHe said the proposed bills did not attack the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution as claimed by the oppositionDetailed discussions can take place in the JPC The report of the JPC will be approved by the Cabinet Then again there will be a discussion on this bills in the House Shah saidMeghwal said he would move a resolution referring the Bills to a joint committee of ParliamentThe government would require a twothirds majority for the passage of the bill in both the Houses in separate votes numbers it does not enjoy in Parliament currentlyAfter bills were introduced Congress member Manickam Tagore pointed out that the government did not have a twothirds majority among the 461 members who took part in the voting on Tuesday In Lok Sabha 269 members voted in favour of the bill against the twothirdsmark of 307Though a twothirds majority is not required to introduce a bill in Parliament the numbers on Tuesday in Lok Sabha was indicative of the tough road ahead of BJPs floor managersAmid the opposition onslaught against the bill BJP allies TDP and Shiv Sena declared unwavering support for the legislation Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju Shah and Meghwal held forth from the government sideTDP member and Union minister Chandra Shekhar Pemmasani said one nation one election would reduce expenditure on polls and enhance logistical efficiencyShiv Sena member Shrikant Shinde hit out at the opposition saying they were allergic to reformsAs Meghwal moved a motion for introduction of the bill Congress member Manish Tewari expressed his opposition and termed the move an assault on the basic structure doctrine that stipulates certain features of the Constitution are beyond the amending power of ParliamentTewari warned that implementing simultaneous elections would require amending Articles 83 and 172 which guarantee the fixed tenure of legislative bodies He argued that such changes violate the basic structure doctrine Samajwadi Party member Dharmendra Yadav said the measure to introduce one nation one election was anticonstitutional antifederalism and against the basic structure of the ConstitutionEarlier Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee said the bills linked the tenure of state assemblies to that of Lok Sabha thus undermining the mandate of the peopleThe state government is not subordinate to the central government or Parliament The bills take away the autonomy of the state assembly It is not an election reform but just the fulfilment of one gentlemans desire and dream he saidDMK member TR Baalu said The electors have the right to elect the government for five years and this right cannot be curtailed with simultaneous elections The opposition members also objected to Speaker Om Birlas move to call the treasury benches to speak on the bills leading to a heated debateRijiju said the speaker had given a ruling to allow floor leaders of all parties to speak on the introduction of the billsYou alone do not represent Parliament every political party has a representation here he saidDMKs Baalu and NCP Sharadchandra Pawar member Supriya Sule favoured referring the bills to a parliamentary committee if they could not be withdrawnThis bill is aimed at maximising political gain and convenience This bill will finish off regional parties All India MajliseIttehadul Muslimeen AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi saidShiv SenaUBT member Anil Desai said the bill was an assault on the federal structure He also wanted the Election Commissioners to be directly elected by the peopleThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever