One nation, one election bill: Gadkari, Scindia among 20 BJP MPs absent in Lok Sabha; party mulls notice

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to issue notices to its members in Lok Sabha who weren't present for the introduction of the bills related to the ‘One Nation One Election' plan on December 17.

Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Giriraj Singh, are among the big names who skipped the voting on the bills in the lower house of Parliament on Tuesday.

The two bills approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union Cabinet on Thursday include The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024. Amid opposition by opposition, the bills, after being introduced in Lok Sabha by Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal, were sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for further discussions.

The BJP issued a whip to MPs to remain present on Tuesday. Notices will be sent to the MPs for defying the three-line whip directing the party MPs not to miss the introduction of the bills.

Opposition members opposed the introduction of the bill and pressed for division. In the division, 269 members voted in favour of the introduction of the bill and 196 voted against it.

Union Ministers Giriraj Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Jyotiraditya Scindia and CR Patil were among nearly 20 BJP MPs absent during the division for the introduction of the 'One Nation, One Election' bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, according to a report by news agency ANI.

What is One Nation One Election Bill?

The bills that pave the way for unified elections across the nation have been on the agenda of the ruling BJP for quite some time now.

Once passed in the Parliament, the Lok Sabha, the Assembly, and the local body (urban or rural) elections will be held in the same year, if not at the same time.

The first step is to hold Lok Sabha and Assembly polls together. Local body elections will be held within 100 days, the high-level panel led by former president Ram Nath Kovind recommended it its report on the simultaneous polls

If the Bill gets passed without any changes the ‘One Nation, One Election’ initiative could be implemented from 2034.