Special Parliament session from Sep 18: Will the One Nation One Election bill be introduced?
The government has issued a provisional calendar for the special session of Parliament, it being scheduled from September 18 to 22 (Monday to Friday). As for the list of business, contrary to expectations, no bill for ‘One Nation One Election’ would be introduced.
Of course, both the list of business and the calendar being provisional, such a bill could be introduced unannounced and the session could be extended to discuss and pass it. One must remember the bills for the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir introduced without any prior notice in 2019.
Among the five bills listed for discussion, taking both the Houses into consideration, the most contentious one is The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, list for Rajya Sabha, which was introduced in the same House during the last monsoon session.
It is meant to bypass a Supreme Court judgment which had ruled that the committee for appointments to the Election Commission of India includes the chief justice of India. According to the bill, the committee would include the prime minister, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union cabinet minister nominated by the prime minister, just tilting the balance in favour of the government.
As per the list of business for the Lok Sabha, a discussion on 75 years of parliamentary proceedings will be held to begin the session on September 18.
Provisional list of bills listed for discussion in the Lok Sabha: The Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023, The Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023 and The Post Office Bill, 2023, with the first two passed by the Rajya Sabha and the last one introduced in the Rajya Sabha—all during the last monsoon session.
Provisional list of bills listed for discussion in the Rajya Sabha: The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2023, The Post Office Bill, 2023 and The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, with the first one passed by the Lok Sabha and the other two introduced in the same House—all during the last monsoon session.
The other important aspect of this session is that, as reported earlier, the move to the new building could take place during the session, on September 19, on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
It is to be noted that almost the entire Opposition had boycotted the inauguration of the new Parliament building in protest against the President not being invited to do the honours.
