Simultaneous elections bill and parliamentary debate
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The bill introduced in Parliament to amend the Constitution and hold simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies has turned out to be both a warning for the ruling party and a strong lesson for the opposition. The 'One Nation, One Election Bill' was introduced by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on December 17th. The introduction of the bill, despite strong opposition protests, has proved to be a boomerang for the government. While the ruling party has the majority just to introduce the bill in the Lok Sabha, it lacks the necessary numbers to get it approved. To make the 'One Nation, One Election' agenda a reality, the Constitution needs to be amended, which requires a two-thirds majority of members present and voting. During the vote on the introduction of the bill, there were 461 MPs present, and the bill would have passed if 343 had voted in favour. However, the ruling party managed to secure only 269 votes, while the opposition got 198. In other words, even the party-wise voting strength in the House didn't favour the NDA during this crucial phase. It's also noteworthy that 20 BJP members, despite receiving a party whip, did not participate in the voting. In short, the central government has found itself in a tight spot after introducing the bill. To save face, the only option left is to refer the matter to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). For now, the ruling party has managed to buy some time through this move.
One thing is certain after this incident: the current party situation makes it impossible for the Sangh Parivar to complete its 'One Election' agenda in the country. Firstly, the BJP needs to rely on coalition partners to maintain a simple majority. Even in this, the Janata Dal (United) participated in the voting but did not participate in the discussion. Secondly, the opposition's united stand on this matter was clearly evident in the bill presentation discussion. The INDIA bloc is a coalition of regional secular parties in the country. It is unlikely that the BJP can alienate any parties from this bloc on this issue. Therefore, it is certain that this bill will not pass in the current situation. The disappointment of BJP leaders including Amit Shah is evident. A closer look at the parliamentary proceedings of the past ten years confirms that the Modi government has never faced such a severe setback. So many controversial bills have been introduced in Parliament during this period. Many of them were passed completely ignoring the opposition protests. Take the case of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill passed five years ago. In the first week of December 2019, the Union Cabinet approved the bill; in the very next days, the bill passed both houses of Parliament and reached the President's office; within 24 hours, the President signed the bill. Even the demand to refer the bill to the JPC was not accepted. If such 'quick baking' were not possible in any circumstance, the bills would be introduced through the backdoor as a money bill. However, the 'simultaneous election' discussion has given a clear message that this game will not be so easy anymore.
This debate also witnessed the extraordinary performance of the opposition. Even Amit Shah, in his strong intervention, faltered several times. The special feature was that the opposition's second-line leaders led a strong attack in a house where senior leaders of the INDIA alliance like Rahul Gandhi, K.C. Venugopal, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were absent. In the discussion led by Congress leader Manish Tewari, Gaurav Gogoi, Trinamool Congress' Kalyan Banerjee, Muslim League's E.T. Mohammed Basheer, RSP's N.K. Premachandran and AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi launched a fierce counterattack, putting the ruling party on the defensive. Realizing that the opposition's challenge to the bill would grow stronger with each speech, Amit Shah was quick to clutch on to the suggestion made by DMK leader T.R. Baalu to refer the bill to the JPC, effectively suspending it for the time being. In fact, what they had done was a fight for survival. If this bill becomes law, regional parties in the country will cease to exist. Recognizing this, the fight they waged was brilliant and historic. It also sends a message that with the opposition standing united, any autocrat can be cornered. Therefore, the debate on the simultaneous election bill is a very important chapter whose memory will be cherished for ever by secular democratic India.