Agencies
NEW DELHI, Dec 12: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved two bills, including one to amend the Constitution to implement "one nation, one election", and the draft legislations are likely to be introduced in Parliament in the ongoing winter session, sources said.
As of now, the Cabinet has given its nod to draft legislations to hold simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies only, the sources said.
While a high-level committee led by former president Ram Nath Kovind had also proposed holding the municipality and panchayat polls along with the national and state elections in a phased manner, the Cabinet has decided to stay away, "as of now", from the manner in which local body elections are conducted.
The Constitution amendment bill to hold simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will not require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the states, the sources noted.
Another Constitution bill proposed by the Kovind panel was aimed at creating provisions to hold simultaneous elections to municipalities and panchayats, along with the elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, by inserting a new Article 324A.
It would have required ratification by half of the state assemblies.
But the Union Cabinet has kept the local body polls out as of now.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The second bill will be an ordinary one to amend provisions in three laws dealing with Union territories that have legislative assemblies - Puducherry, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir - to align the terms of these Houses with other legislative assemblies and the Lok Sabha as proposed in the Constitution amendment bill.
The statutes it proposes to amend are the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act-1991, the Government of Union Territories Act-1963 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act-2019.
The proposed bill will be an ordinary legislation not requiring a change in the Constitution and will also not need ratification by the states.
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