Lok Sabha extends tenure of panel on simultaneous polls

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The North News

New Delhi, March 18

Lok Sabha has extended the tenure of a joint parliamentary committee examining two Bills linked to the proposal for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. The Lok Sabha on Wednesday approved, by voice vote, a motion to continue the work of the panel until the first day of the last week of the 2026 Monsoon session.

The motion was moved by P P Chaudhary, chairman of the Joint Committee of Parliament tasked with scrutinising the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

The two Bills aim to pave the way for holding elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies at the same time — a proposal often referred to as “One Nation, One Election”.

The Bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha on 17 December 2024 and were subsequently referred to the 39-member multi-party joint committee for detailed examination. The panel, which held its first meeting on 8 January 2025, has since consulted a wide range of experts and political leaders as part of its review.

Among those who have appeared before the committee are former IMF first deputy managing director Gita Gopinath, former chief justices of India Sanjiv Khanna, U U Lalit, D Y Chandrachud and J S Khehar, as well as former senior politician Ghulam Nabi Azad. The committee has also interacted with constitutional experts, economists, members of the Law Commission and several political figures.

The extension indicates that lawmakers want more time to study the legal, constitutional and administrative implications of synchronising national and state elections before the panel submits its recommendations.

PTI