One Nation One Election + UPSC?.ToString()?? UPSC?.ToString()+" Current Affairs";

Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues
Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.
Why in the news: The government introduced two Bills in the Lok Sabha Tuesday as part of its plans for simultaneous elections across the country, countering the Opposition’s charge of the move being “anti-constitutional” and “undermining federal structure”. The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill and Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill were approved by the Cabinet, recently.
Key Points to Study:
• What is the process of passing the Constitutional Amendment Bill?
• How constitutional amendment bill is different from an ordinary bill?
• What is the basic structure doctrine and how the Supreme Court judgments have defined it?
• What is the purpose of the Joint Parliamentary Committee?
• What is the role of the Election Commission of India in conducting simultaneous elections?
• What are the arguments in favour and against the One Nation, one election?
Key Takeaways:
• The Union Cabinet last week approved the Constitution Bill, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill), 2024 that would allow holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha as well as state and Union Territory assemblies. The latter seeks to align the elections of the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry and the NCT of Delhi.
• In September 2023, a high-level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, to suggest ways and amendments to enable simultaneous elections, had submitted its report. Of the 47 parties that submitted their opinion on the matter to the Kovind panel, 32 supported the idea and 15 opposed it.
• As per the draft, the President would have to notify an “appointed date” on the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election, and any Legislative Assembly elected after that date would have its term curtailed to end with that of the Lok Sabha.
What are the key takeaways from the two Bills?
• First, simultaneous polls, as of now, are only for Parliament and state Assemblies, and not municipal corporations.
• Second, these changes can in ordinary circumstances take shape earliest in the 2034 election cycle. The Constitution amendment Bill states that the “President may by a public notification issued on the date of the first sitting of the House of the People after a general election, bring into force the provision of this article, and that date of the notification shall be called the appointed date”.
• The earliest date of the first sitting of Lok Sabha will be in 2029, and the next election cycle will be in 2034, assuming that both the 18th and 19th Lok Sabhas complete their full five-year terms.
• For the Constitutional amendment to pass in Parliament will require a “special majority” in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Two conditions have to be satisfied under Article 368 of the Constitution which gives the power to amend.
• First, half of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha must vote in favour of the amendment. Second, of all the members “present and voting”, two-thirds must vote in favour of the amendment.
• It is practical to leave out municipal elections at this stage. That would have required an amendment to be “ratified” (agreed to) by the legislatures of at least half of all states in the country.
• The first Bill is The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, which proposes to amend three articles of the Constitution and insert a new one, Article 82A(1-6).
• This new provision is intended to facilitate the transition to simultaneous elections. It is proposed to be added after Article 82, which pertains to delimitation, which is the readjustment of allocation of Lok Sabha seats among states after every decadal Census.
• According to the Bill, Article 82A provides for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
• Under Article 82A(3), the Election Commission of India (ECI) “shall conduct general elections to the House of the People and all Legislative Assemblies simultaneously”.
• Article 82 A(4) defines simultaneous elections as “general elections held for constituting the House of the People and all the Legislative Assemblies together”.
• Article 82A(5) gives the ECI the option of not holding any particular Assembly election along with the election to Lok Sabha.
• Article 82A(6) says if an Assembly election is deferred, the full term of that Assembly will also end with the full term of the Lok Sabha elected in the general election.
• For state Assemblies, amendments similar to those proposed to Article 83 are proposed to Article 172, which provides for the duration of state legislatures.
• In case of dissolution of a state Assembly before its full term, the election would be held for the unexpired term of the preceding Assembly.
• The second Bill, The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, has proposed amendments to the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(1) Consider the following statements: (2017)
1. The Election Commission of India is a five-member body.
2. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs decides the election schedule for the conduct of both general elections and bye-elections.
3. Election Commission resolves the disputes relating to splits/mergers of recognised political parties.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 3 only

Ans: d