Nitin Gadkari, Jyotiraditya Scindia among 20 MPs absent during 'one nation, one election' debate

Two bills that pave way for simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly elections were introduced in the Lower House.

A prominent number of BJP MPs, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and Giriraj Singh, skipped the introduction of the ‘one nation, one election’ bills in Lok Sabha on Tuesday. According to reports, the BJP plans to send notices to around 20 MPs who were not present.

A report by Times of India stated that Union ministers CR Patil and Bhagirath Choudhary were in Jaipur for the ‘Ek Varsh-Parinaam Utkarsh’ event to mark the Rajasthan government’s one year in office, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief guest. A few others had also informed floor managers, citing personal and professional engagements. The BJP brass is planning to seek explanations from the remaining absentees. “Leadership is upset and there will be a meeting on Wednesday in which the matter will be discussed, despite a whip issued in advance,” a BJP leader told TOI.

The BJP had earlier sent a three-line whip to its Lok Sabha members, directing them to be present in the House. The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill was tabled by Meghwal after a nearly 90-minute debate, followed by a vote. A total of 269 members supported the bill, while 198 voted against it.

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The absence of the MPs did not affect the tabling of the two bills meant to amend the Constitution and permit simultaneous parliamentary and state elections.

But it did provide ammunition to the Congress which claimed it was evidence that the government did not have enough support on the issue. "Undoubtedly the government has larger numbers on its side... but to pass it (bills to amend the Constitution) you need a 2/3 majority that they very clearly don't have," Congress leader Shashi Tharoor told reporters. "It is obvious (then) that they should not persist too long with this.”

Meghwal also introduced The Union Territories Amendment Bill, which seeks to align elections in the Union territories of Puducherry, Delhi, and Jammu and Kashmir with the Lok Sabha polls. The bill has been sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed discussions.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted the bills to be referred to a joint committee of Parliament for wider deliberations at every level.