ONOP to introduce major changes in electoral process

What the Bill proposes

- HT Correspondent

[e-mail] NEW DELHI: The constitutional amendment bill that will pave the way for simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies has proposed amendments and insertion of new Articles that will allow the terms of the Lok Sabha and state assemblies to be synchronised.

The process of simultaneous elections itself will not take place till 2034, the provisions of the bill indicate. According to a copy of the bill, circulated late on Friday night, if the Lok Sabha or any state assembly is dissolved before the end of the full term, mid-term elections for that legislature alone would be held for the remainder of the five-year term.

It suggests including an Article 82(A) (simultaneous elections to the House of the People and all Legislative Assemblies) and to amend Article 83 (Duration of Houses of Parliament), Article 172 and Article 327 (Power of Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to legislatures).

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, says the provisions of the amendment would come into effect on an "appointed date", which the President will notify on the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election.