Simultaneous polls: Members echo party stand at Parliamentary panel meet

The Parliamentary panel constituted to scrutinise the two Bills on simultaneous elections held its first meeting on Wednesday, with BJP members lauding the concept, and opposition MPs questioning it.

Officials of the Ministry of Law and Justice made a presentation on the provisions of the proposed laws during the meeting, citing support to the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls by various bodies, including the Law Commission of India, sources said.

BJP members batted for the 'one nation, one election' proposal, saying it is in the interest of the country, they said.

A Congress member said the idea is against the basic fabric of the Constitution, while a Trinamool Congress MP said it negates people's democratic rights, they added.

Headed by BJP MP PP Chaudhary, the 39-member joint committee of Parliament comprises members from all major parties, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Congress, Sanjay Jha from JD(U), Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde, AAP's Sanjay Singh, and Kalyan Banerjee from Trinamool Congress.

Chaudhary is a former minister of state for law.

The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill were introduced in the Lok Sabha during the recent Winter Session and referred to the committee.

The government decided to increase the committee's strength from 31 to 39, as more political parties expressed their desire to be part of the exercise to examine the two draft legislations on simultaneous elections.

Former Union ministers Anurag Thakur, Parshottam Rupala and Manish Tewari, along with several other lawmakers, including Anil Baluni, Bansuri Swaraj and Sambit Patra, are also members of the committee.

The panel has 27 members from the Lok Sabha, and 12 from the Rajya Sabha.