Priyanka Gandhi Vadra likely to be on joint committee of Parliament on ONOE bills: Report

Priyanka Gandhi

Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Manish Tewari, Sukhdeo Bhagat and Randeep Surjewala are the party's likely choices for the joint committee of Parliament that will scrutinise the bills for simultaneous polls (One Nation, One Election), news agency PTI reported quoting sources.

Speaking to reporters on the Parliament premises, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi termed the bills "anti-constitutional". "It is against the federalism of our nation. We are opposing the bill," she had said.

After a fiery debate on December 17, two bills that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in the Lok Sabha.

Opposition parties dubbed the draft laws — a Constitution amendment bill and an ordinary bill — as an attack on the federal structure, a charge rejected by the government.

Also Read | Over 20 BJP MPs to face action for skipping Lok Sabha when Centre introduced ONOE Bill: Report

If the two bills are passed during the Budget Session in February next year, the earliest the "One Nation, One Election" law will come into force will be 2034.

The One Nation One Poll will be implemented in two stages: first for the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, and the second for local body elections within 100 days of general elections.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies are in support of the Bill, several Opposition parties, including Congress, Trinamool Congress and MK Stalin’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) are opposed to it. While a total of 32 political parties are supporting the ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill, 15 others are opposing it.

With PTI inputs