39-member JPC to examine ONOP bills formed

The Lok Sabha on Friday approved a 39-member joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to examine The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the amendments to the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, the twin bills that aim to usher in simultaneous state and national elections.

- HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI:

The panel, earlier planned for 31 members, will now have 39 members after some smaller parties met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and demanded their inclusion in the important committee. There are 27 Lok Sabha MPs and 12 Rajya Sabha lawmakers in it.

"The government agreed that the matter is very important and it relates to the reformation of the election process of our country, so we agreed to include most of the prominent political parties," said parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju.

He said there was no limit on the size of the JPC and pointed out that one parliamentary panel examining centre-state relations had 51 members.