India Introduces ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill in Parliament
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government introduced draft legislation in India’s parliament to hold simultaneous elections across the country, the latest step to alter the electoral landscape in the world’s biggest democracy.
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The ‘One Nation One Election’ bill, which proposes that India conduct its national and state polls concurrently, was introduced by Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in the lower house of parliament on Tuesday.
Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party have long advocated for a one-time nationwide election to cut costs and improve efficiency. Opposition lawmakers have objected to the plan, though, arguing that simultaneous elections would blur national and grassroots concerns. Some analysts also say the proposed law would give an unreasonable advantage to the party governing at the federal level.
“This excessive centralism which is sought to be brought into existence by this bill absolutely militates against the constitutional scheme in its essence,” Manish Tewari, a member of parliament with the main opposition Indian National Congress, said Tuesday.
The introduction of the bill is just the first of many steps before the proposal becomes a law. After this, the draft legislation may be up for discussion or could be reworked entirely, a process that can take multiple parliament sessions. The ongoing winter session of the parliament ends this week.
State and federal elections are non-concurrent in India as of now, with few polls scheduled almost every year. If the legislation is cleared and implemented, it would entail adjusting the terms of ongoing state assemblies.
According to the draft of the law, the Indian president can initiate the legislation into action in “the first sitting” of the lower house of the parliament after a national poll, which implies the law can’t be implemented until 2029. If enacted, it would truncate the terms of some state governments, in order to sync the polls.
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