Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill 2024

Also called: One Nation One Election Bill, Simultaneous elections bill · Topic: Electoral Reforms: Money, Criminalisation and Simultaneous Elections · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024 is a Bill to amend the Constitution so that the Lok Sabha and all state Legislative Assemblies are elected together. It adds a new Article 82A and amends Articles 83, 172 and 327. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 17 December 2024 and sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee [1].

It matters because it is the first Bill to try to bring back the common election cycle of 1951–67. It also raises big questions about cost, good government and federalism.

Explanation

What the Bill does

• Inserts Article 82A (new):
• The President notifies an appointed date. This is done on the date of the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election [1].

• Every assembly elected after that date ends when that Lok Sabha's full term ends. This holds even if the assembly has served fewer than five years.

• ECI's power to defer a state poll:

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) may recommend to the President that a state's election be deferred (put off) if it cannot be held with the others [1].
• The Bill sets no time limit on this deferral [1].

• Even a deferred assembly still ends with the Lok Sabha.

• Amends Articles 83 and 172 (terms of the Lok Sabha and the assemblies):

• If a House is dissolved early, a fresh election is held.
• The new House serves only the unexpired term (the time left in the five-year cycle), not a fresh five years [1].

• Example: if a fresh poll comes two years after the common election, the new House sits for only three years [4].

• Amends Article 327: Parliament's power to make election laws will cover the "conduct of simultaneous elections" [1].

What the Bill leaves out

• Local bodies are left out. Panchayats (Part IX) and municipalities (Part IXA) are elected by State Election Commissions (SECs) under Articles 243K and 243ZA, not by the ECI.
• The Bill does not add Article 324A (local body polls alongside the general election), which the Kovind Committee proposed.
• It does not amend Article 325 to create a single electoral roll.
• Result:
• It drops the Kovind Committee's Step 2, which was local body polls within 100 days of the Lok Sabha and assembly polls [2][4].
• Because of this, the Bill does not need ratification by half the states. Ratification means the legislatures of at least half the states must approve an amendment before it takes effect.

How it must pass (Article 368)

1. Introduction: in either House of Parliament. The President's approval is not needed first.

2. Passage in each House: by a special majority, meaning: - a majority of the House's total membership, and - two-thirds of members present and voting. - Each House votes separately. A joint sitting (both Houses meeting together to settle a deadlock) is not allowed for amendment Bills.

3. State ratification: not needed for this Bill as drafted. Changes to the terms of Parliament and the assemblies do not need it [4].

4. President's assent: the President must give assent (24th Amendment, 1971).

Its companion Bill

• The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was introduced on the same day [1].
• It amends 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. This puts UT assemblies on the same cycle [5].
• It is an ordinary Bill. It needs only a simple majority (more than half of members present and voting).

In the Constitution and practice

• Background — the cycle that broke:
• Lok Sabha and assembly polls were held together in 1951-52, 1957, 1962 and 1967.
• Several assemblies were dissolved early in 1968-69, after the unstable coalition governments that followed 1967.
• The Lok Sabha was dissolved early in December 1970, so the general election came a year early, in 1971.
• Many assemblies were also dissolved under Article 356. This is President's rule: the Union takes over a state's government when the Governor reports that it cannot be run as the Constitution requires.

• Today some major election happens almost every year. Each brings a Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the ECI's code of behaviour for parties and governments. While it is in force, governments cannot announce new schemes.

• Earlier support for the idea:

• ECI Annual Report (1983)
• Law Commission 170th Report (1999)
• Parliamentary Standing Committee 79th Report (December 2015)
• NITI Aayog discussion paper (2017)

• Law Commission draft report (August 2018)

• Kovind High-Level Committee (HLC):

• Set up on 2 September 2023 and chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind [3]. It reported on 14 March 2024.
• It received more than 21,500 public responses, about 80% in favour. Of 47 political parties, 32 supported the idea [2].

• The Union Cabinet accepted its recommendations on 18 September 2024 [2].

• In Parliament:

• Introduced in the Lok Sabha on 17 December 2024 [1].
• The motion to introduce it was carried 269-198 on a division (a recorded vote).

• It was sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) chaired by P.P. Chaudhary. A JPC has members from both Houses and examines a Bill in detail. PRS records the referral as 19 December 2024 [1]. The committee was set up on 20 December 2024.

• Current status:

• In 2026 the JPC was still consulting. It met Chief Ministers, presiding officers, parties, financial institutions and civil society in Mumbai, Dehradun, Chandigarh, Shimla, Bengaluru, Gandhinagar and Goa.

• The Bill remains with the committee [6].

• Basic structure angle:

• Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution, but it cannot destroy its core features. These include democracy and federalism. This is the basic structure doctrine (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973).
• Federalism was confirmed as part of it in S.R. Bommai (1994).
• Critics say that tying state assembly terms to the Union's cycle tests this limit.

Don't confuse with

• Kovind HLC recommendations vs the 129th Bill: the HLC wanted local body polls within 100 days, a new Article 324A and a single roll under Article 325. The 129th Bill drops all of these, so it needs no state ratification.
• Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024: an ordinary Bill passed by simple majority that amends three Acts for UTs. The 129th Bill is a Constitution amendment that needs a special majority.
• One Nation, One Election vs "one vote": the voter still casts separate votes for the MP and the MLA. Only the timing is common.
• Article 324 vs proposed Article 324A: Article 324 gives the ECI control of elections to Parliament, state legislatures, President and Vice-President. Article 324A was the HLC's proposed new article for local body polls. It is not in the Bill.

Prelims Hooks

• Article 82A (new) = the appointed date, notified by the President on the date of the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election [1].
• The 129th Amendment Bill amends Articles 83, 172 and 327. It does not insert Article 324A or amend Article 325, so it needs no state ratification.
• Trap: the HLC's local body change (Article 324A) and single roll (Article 325) would need ratification by half the states. Term changes under Articles 83 and 172 would not [4].
• After early dissolution, the new House serves only the unexpired term, not a fresh five years [1].
• The ECI may recommend deferring a state's poll, with no time limit set in the Bill [1].
• Timeline: HLC set up 2 Sep 2023 → reported 14 Mar 2024 → Cabinet accepted 18 Sep 2024 [2] → Bill introduced 17 Dec 2024 [1] → sent to a JPC chaired by P.P. Chaudhary.

Mains Points

• Efficiency vs federalism:
• Common polls cut costs and reduce MCC freezes on schemes. They also mean less diversion of central forces, police and teachers.
• But ending state assembly terms early to match the Lok Sabha may weaken state independence. Federalism is part of the basic structure (S.R. Bommai, 1994).

• An IDFC Institute study (2015) found about a 77% chance that voters pick the same party at both levels when polls are held together. This may hurt regional parties.

• Stability vs accountability:

• Unexpired-term polls keep the cycle aligned, but they can produce very short legislatures (even one year). They also give voters fewer chances to judge governments.

• A constructive vote of no-confidence (Germany, Art. 67 of the Basic Law) is one fix. A government can be removed only if the House elects a new head at the same time. The Law Commission (1999 and 2018) also suggested it.

• Design gaps in the Bill:

• The untimed ECI deferral power could leave a state unrepresented for a long time [1]. A fixed time limit would help.
• Dropping local bodies avoids ratification but loses the HLC's full plan.
• Other ideas include a two-cycle calendar (half the states vote with the Lok Sabha and the rest at mid-term) and a common electoral roll prepared with the SECs.
• Logistics need planning: roughly double the EVMs and VVPATs would be needed, and they must be stored between cycles.

Related concepts

• One Nation One Election
• High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Elections
• Common electoral roll

Read more

• Simultaneous elections: One Nation, One Election