Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has proposed the names of Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee to the panel. Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Manish Tewari, Sukhdeo Bhagat and Randeep Surjewala will likely represent the party in the joint committee of the parliament (JPC) that will scrutinise the simultaneous polls legislation.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had termed the bills “anti-constitutional”. “It is against the federalism of our nation. We are opposing the bill,” she had said. Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress has proposed the names of Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee and Rajya Sabha member Saket Gokhale to the proposed panel.
Two bills that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in Lok Sabha on Tuesday after a fiery debate between the opposition and the union government. The Congress-led opposition termed the legislation “anti-constitutional”. Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal clarified that the law will not tamper with the power of the states.
Amid uproar, union home minister Amit Shah informed the Lok Sabha that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told the Cabinet that the bill would be referred to a joint parliamentary committee. The bill was introduced after a division of votes. 263 members voted in favour of introduction of the bill and 198 against it. Opposition Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, NCP-SP, Shiv Sena-UBT, and AIMIM objected to the introduction of the bill.
The legislation, which envisages holding assembly and general elections simultaneously, was introduced months after a panel led by former president Ram Nath Kovind held consultations with stakeholders, including political parties. 32 political parties supported the measure and 15 parties opposed it.
“Detailed discussions can take place in the JPC. The report of the JPC will be approved by the Cabinet. Then again, there will be a discussion on this (bills) in the House,” Amit Shah said in the House.
