One nation, one poll Bills introduced in Lok Sabha

269 vote for and 198 against their introduction

- Divya A & Liz Mathew

The Government introduced two Bills in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday as part of its plans for simultaneous elections across the country, countering the Opposition's charge of the move being "anti-constitutional" and "undermining federal structure". The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill and Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill) were approved by the Cabinet last week.

However, while most of the Opposition parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) Samajwadi Party, Revolutionary Socialist Party, IUML and AIMIM, "vehemently" opposed the introduction of the Bills, the DMK and NCP reflected confusion in the Opposition ranks as they sought that the legislation be sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for further discussion.

After the Opposition sought a division of votes to determine whether the Bills could be introduced, voting was held, with 269 MPs in favour and 198 against. The Congress flagged this margin to say the government did not have a two-third majority in the House, which is required to pass a constitutional amendment Bill.

"Two-thirds majority (i.e., 307) was needed out of the total 461 votes... But the government secured only (269), while the opposition got 198. The 'One Nation, One Election' proposal failed to gain two-thirds support," Congress MP Manickam Tagore said on X.