Govt push for ONOP will test its ability to garner numbers

NEW DELHI: The NDA government's ambitious plan for simultaneous national and state polls with the One Nation, One Election could be a test of its ability to muster the requisite numbers as it doesn't have a two-third majority needed to push through a Constitution amendment under Article 368 in the Lok Sabha.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

This was evident even on Tuesday when opposition parties demanded a vote on the introduction of the two bills on simultaneous polls. It won 263 votes to 198 votes and the bills were introduced, but the number was well short of the 362 votes it needs (the current strength of the Lok Sabha is 542) to pass a constitution amendment. To be sure, 20 BJP MPs were absent, but even their presence would have left the NDA well short.

The Opposition too has its task cut out. It has to keep its flock together.

The government on Tuesday introduced The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, to hold simultaneous polls in the states and the UTs after a heated debate with the Opposition parties uniting against the proposed law.

The government's ability to muster numbers time and again hasn't escaped the Opposition's attention.