Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal is set to introduce two significant bills in the Lok Sabha on Monday, aimed at enabling simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state and Union territory assemblies. This comes after the Union Cabinet approved the draft Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill), 2024, on Thursday. MPs received copies of the bills on Friday evening.
According to the draft legislation, simultaneous elections will commence from an “appointed date,” to be notified by the President during the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election. Assemblies elected post this appointed date will have their terms aligned with that of the Lok Sabha, thereby facilitating simultaneous polls.
Given that the first sitting of the current Lok Sabha (elected in 2024) has already taken place, the earliest possible start for this arrangement would be after the 2029 elections, with simultaneous polls anticipated by 2034.
The Constitution Amendment Bill proposes several changes, including the addition of a new Article 82(A), which explicitly introduces the concept of simultaneous elections. Amendments are also proposed to Article 83 (Duration of Houses of Parliament), Article 172 (Duration of State Legislatures), and Article 327 (Elections to Legislatures). A corresponding bill for Union Territories includes similar changes for Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry.
The bill specifies that if the Lok Sabha or any assembly is dissolved mid-term, elections will be held only for the remainder of its five-year term.
The drafting of these bills was based on recommendations by a high-level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, which was constituted in September 2023 to explore amendments necessary for implementing simultaneous elections.
In the statement of objects and reasons, the government highlighted the costliness and time-consuming nature of frequent elections as the primary motivation for this initiative. However, the government has not provided an exact cost estimate or a specific timeline for implementation. (With inputs from The Indian Express)