The Union Law and Justice Minister (Independent Charge), Arjun Ram Meghwal, presented the 129th Constitutional Amendment Bill aimed at implementing ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE) in the Lok Sabha on December 17, Tuesday.
The initial voting resulted in 220 votes supporting the motion and 149 opposing it, with a total of 369 members participating. Following objections from the opposition after the first vote, Speaker Om Birla opted to hold a second voting round using paper slips for those members who believed their votes needed to be re-expressed.
Opposition figures, including Congress MPs Manish Tewari and Gaurav Gogoi, expressed their disagreement with the bill’s introduction in the House, asserting that Parliament lacks the authority to pass such legislation.
This marked the first occasion that the Lok Sabha employed the electronic voting system in the new Parliament House. Opposition parties characterized the draft legislation as an assault on the federal framework, a claim that the government dismissed. A Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) has received the bill for further examination.
Congress MP Rajiv Shukla pointed out several flaws in the Bill. “It is positive that the bill was referred to the JPC. We were also advocating for this. The bill should undergo thorough discussions within the JPC. There are numerous deficiencies in the Bill,” he stated.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra described the bill as “anti-constitutional.” “This bill undermines the federal structure of our country. We are against the bill,” she stated to reporters outside Parliament.
