Govt looks to table bill on one nation, one poll

A bill to pave the way for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies ranks high on the Union government's agenda and could be tabled in Parliament in the ongoing winter session or the coming budget session, people familiar with the details said on Monday.

- HT Correspondent

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 political parties and activists who allege that it will hurt democratic accountability.

The bill that is likely to be sent for scrutiny by a parliamentary committee has not been circulated among members so far, but there is speculation that it could be introduced in the winter session that winds up on December 20, said the people cited above.

In September, the Union cabinet approved the recommendations of a high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind on implementing simultaneous polls across India, setting the stage for the far-reaching but controversial reform that can reshape the world's largest democracy.

The bill is likely to be a constitutional amendment and would require legislatures of at least half of the states to ratify it.