Govt to move motion on JPC for simultaneous election bills

CENTRE SET TO PROPOSE THE NAMES OF 21 LAWMAKERS OF THE LOWER HOUSE PANEL MEMBERS

- HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Union government will formally move a motion in the Lok Sabha on Thursday to constitute a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on two bills that aim to usher in simultaneous national and state elections, and propose the names of 21 lawmakers of the Lower House as members.

The names will include Congress's newly-elected MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers Bansuri Swaraj, Anurag Thakur and Bhartruhari Mahtab, among others. The motion will also make way for the inclusion of 10 MPs from the Rajya Sabha, and the panel will be asked to submit its report on the first day of the last week of the 2025 Budget session. "Arjun Ram Meghwal (law minister) to move that the bill further to amend the Constitution of India and the Bill further to amend the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 be referred to a Joint Committee of the Houses consisting of the following 21 Members from this House," said the list of business of the Lower House for Thursday.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the bill to amend the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, amid stiff resistance of the Opposition parties who termed them as unconstitutional and infringing upon the rights of states.

Officials indicated that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla might appoint former minister and senior BJP MP PP Chaudhary as the chairman of the JPC. BJP's CM Ramesh, Parshottambhai Rupala, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Sambit Patra, Anil Baluni and Vishnu Datt Sharma will be among the members of the panel.