On One Nation One Poll, Law Panel set to propose some sweeping recommendations
New Delhi, Aug 16: The Law Commission is set to recommend a tough legal framework this month to hold Lok Sabha and Assembly polls together, highly placed sources on the panel said.
"We were not asked whether we support it or not. We were asked to provide the way ahead. We will do that," a functionary said. The commission would recommend amendments to the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act to ensure simultaneous polls.
The recommendations of the commission are not binding on the government, but the report will allow an informed debate among political parties and stakeholders, he said. elections to Lok Sabha and state Assemblies can be held in two phases beginning in 2019, provided at least two provisions of the Constitution are amended and ratified by majority of the states, a Law Commission study paper had said in April. According to the working paper, the second phase of simultaneous polls can take place in 2024.
The
document
stated
that
the
leader
of
the
majority
party
be
elected
prime
minister
or
chief
minister
by
the
entire
House
(Lok
Sabha
or
state
Assembly)
to
ensure
stability
of
the
government
as
well
as
the
Lok
Sabha
or
the
Assembly.
The
document
proposed
amending
the
Constitution
(Articles
83(2)
and
172(1)
dealing
with
tenures
of
Lok
Sabha
and
state
Assemblies)
and
the
Representation
of
the
People
Act
to
extend
the
terms
of
state
legislative
Assemblies
to
effect
the
move.
It
suggested
that
in
case
a
government
fell
mid-term,
the
term
of
the
new
government
would
be
for
the
remaining
period
"and
not
for
a
fresh
five-year
term".
"As
an
abundant
caution
and
in
order
to
avoid
a
challenge
(in
the
courts)
to
amendments
on
the
ground
of
not
having
obtained
ratification
by
majority
of
the
states,
such
ratification
could
be
obtained
for
the
proposed
(constitutional)
amendment,"
the
working
paper
said.
The
states
which
are
recommended
to
be
covered
under
phase
I
are
where
Assembly
polls
are
due
in
2021.
These
include
Andhra
Pradesh,
Assam,
Bihar,
Madhya
Pradesh
and
Maharashtra.
States which will come under phase II are Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Delhi and Punjab. To hold elections in these states along with Lok Sabha polls, the terms of the Assemblies have to be extended. Based on a suggestion made by the Election Commission, the working paper also said that a no-confidence motion against the government should be followed by a confidence motion. This would ensure that if the opposition does not have numbers to form an alternative government, the regime in office cannot be removed.
Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat had a word of caution on simultaneous polls when he recently said that the legal framework required for holding of the two elections together would take a lot of time to get ready."We cannot put the cart before the horse. Logistical issues are subservient to legal framework. Unless legal framework is in place, we don't have to talk about anything else because legal framework will take a lot of time, making constitutional amendment to (changing) the law, all the process will take time, he said.
He had said once the legal framework is ready, the EC would deliver. EC is a creation of the Constitution. We have to perform willy-nilly, deliver the election, whatever way prescribed in the law, he had said. Political parties are divided on the issue. Besides NDA constituent Shiromani Akali Dal, the AIADMK, the Samajwadi Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti have supported it. The Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, the DMK, the Telugu Desam Party, the Left parties and the JD(S) have opposed the proposal.