Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting on 'One Nation, One Election' set for January 8  

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) will meet on January 8 next year to deliberate on the contentious 'One Nation, One Election' proposal. The plan to synchronise Lok Sabha and state assembly elections has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties, who argue it threatens India's federal structure.  

Congress leader Salman Khurshid emphasised the complexity of the issue, stating, "It is not an easy task. When the parliamentary committee sits, all the issues will be placed before it and will be discussed."  

The proposal has also faced staunch resistance from Left parties, who have labelled it an attack on the rights of state legislatures. In a joint statement, leaders from the Communist Party of India, CPI (Marxist), CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party, and All India Forward Bloc called the bill "a recipe for centralization and truncating the will of the people."  

The bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha, seeks to amend the Constitution to enable simultaneous elections nationwide. Critics argue that such a move could arbitrarily shorten the terms of existing legislatures, undermining democratic principles.  

The 31-member JPC includes representatives from major parties, such as Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Manish Tewari, NCP's Supriya Sule, TMC's Kalyan Banerjee, and BJP's PP Chaudhary, Bansuri Swaraj, and Anurag Singh Thakur. Ten members from the Rajya Sabha are also part of the panel.  

Opposition leaders have warned that the proposed changes could disproportionately benefit the ruling party, potentially weakening regional parties and consolidating power at the centre. The upcoming discussions in January are expected to be heated, with significant implications for India's electoral and political landscape.