New Delhi:
The Law Commission is likely to recommend adding a new chapter to the Constitution on 'one nation, one election' by mid-2029 and holding the mammoth democratic exercise of simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies across the country, sources said. Today.
The Commission, headed by Justice (Retd) Ritu Raj Awasthi, would recommend an amendment to the Constitution to add a “new chapter or section” on simultaneous elections, the sources told Press Trust of India.
The panel would also recommend synchronizing the terms of the legislative assemblies in “three phases” over the next five years so that the first simultaneous elections can be held in May-June 2029, when the elections to the 19th Lok Sabha will take place.
The new chapter in the Constitution would include issues related to 'simultaneous elections', 'sustainability of simultaneous elections' and 'common electoral roll' for Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, panchayats and municipalities so that the three-way simultaneous elections could be held. together “at once,” they explained.
The new chapter being recommended will have a non-existent power to override other provisions in the Constitution relating to the terms of meetings.
The five-year period during which the terms of the meetings will be synchronized will be spread over three phases. The Commission would like to recommend that the first phase could deal with state assemblies whose period should be shortened by a few months – three or six months.
In the event of a government falling due to distrust or a hung House, the Commission would recommend the formation of a “unity government” with representatives from different political parties.
In the event that the unity government formula does not work, the legal panel would recommend holding new elections for the remainder of the House of Representatives' term.
“Suppose new elections are needed and the government has three years left, then the elections must be held for the remainder of the term – three years – to ensure sustainability,” a source explained.
Besides the Law Commission, a high-level committee under former President Ram Nath Kovind is also working on a report on how simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, municipalities and panchayats can be held by amending the Constitution and existing legal framework. .
Along with the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, expected in April-May this year, elections to at least five assemblies are likely to take place, while state polls for Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand are expected later this year.
Bihar and Delhi are scheduled for next year, while Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala are scheduled for 2026, and Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur in 2027.
As many as nine states may have polling stations scheduled for 2028: Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Karnataka, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)