Cabinet nod to 'one nation, one poll' plan

BILLS ARE LIKELY TO BE TABLED IN THE ONGOING WINTER SESSION, WILL LIKELY BE EXAMINED BY A JOINT HOUSE COMMITTEE

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its nod to two bills aimed at implementing simultaneous state and national polls that are likely to be introduced during the ongoing winter session of Parliament in a bid to usher in sweeping changes in the ways elections are conducted in the world's largest democracy.

The proposal to align elections was a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's 2024 poll manifesto and has the backing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but is fiercely opposed by a raft of opposition parties and activists who allege that it will hurt democratic accountability and federalism.

The Cabinet cleared the Constitutional Amendment Bill to conduct elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies together and a second bill to align the polls in the Union Territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir, said people aware of the details. The second bill does not require amending the Constitution.