'One Nation, One Election' Parliamentary Panel Plans Four 'Study Tours' To Uttarakhand, Maharashtra And J&K

The joint parliamentary committee working on the 'One Nation, One Election' concept, which pertains to holding Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections simultaneously, is scheduled for four "study tours" in May and June. The purpose of these tours is to gather perspectives on two Bills related to this issue.

“The study tours will begin on 17 May. We will cover Maharashtra on 17-18 May. Then, Dehradun (Uttarakhand) from 19 to 21 May. We will cover the state of Uttarakhand,” the chairperson of the committee, P P Chaudhary was quoted as saying by Indian Express on Tuesday (22 April).

“In June, we will cover Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as well. People from far-off places can also come in front of the committee. And then, we will go to Chandigarh and we will be covering a Union Territory and will cover Haryana and Punjab as well,” he said before the panel’s seventh meeting.

“Everyone has their opinion (in a democracy). There could be different opinions in the committee, too. One time will come when all the members will agree to it because all the leaders think for the nation and will agree for the nation’s interest,” Chaudhary expressed optimism for arriving at a common decision.

On 17 December 2024, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced two bills, namely the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill 2024, to the Lok Sabha. These bills were subsequently referred to the joint committee for further review.

In the panel's most recent meeting on 25 March, Attorney General R Venkatramani and former Delhi High Court Chief Justice D N Patel informed the committee that the Bills are not in violation of the Constitution. Justice Patel added that there could be potential modifications to these Bills.