The first meeting of the 39-member parliamentary panel on the ‘One Nation, One Election’ initiative is scheduled for January 8, marking the start of discussions on a major electoral reform proposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government. According to parliamentary sources, the Joint Committee on Bills for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, chaired by BJP MP PP Chaudhary, will likely have an introductory session where officials will brief the panel on two key Bills aimed at implementing the BJP’s long-standing election reform agenda.
The two Bills in focus are the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill. Both were introduced in the Lok Sabha last week and were referred to the joint parliamentary committee on the final day of the Winter Session. The Government expanded the panel’s size from 31 to 39 members after several political parties expressed interest in participating in the review of these draft legislations concerning simultaneous elections.
Among the committee members are former Union ministers Anurag Thakur, Parshottam Rupala, and Manish Tewari, along with prominent first-term lawmakers such as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Bansuri Swaraj, and Sambit Patra.
The panel consists of 27 members from the Lok Sabha and 12 from the Rajya Sabha, representing a broad spectrum of political voices. This meeting sets the stage for nationwide deliberations on one of the most significant electoral reforms proposed in recent years.
