Ex-President Kovind chairs 2nd meeting of ‘one nation, one election’ committee, Law Commission gives presentation

Second meeting of one nation, one election held in Delhi on Wednesday

New Delhi: Former President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday chaired the second meeting of the ‘One nation, one election’ committee during which the Law Commission gave a presentation.

In a statement, the government said that the high-level committee constituted under the chairpersonship of Kovind to examine the issue relating to holding of simultaneous elections in the country and make recommendations thereon held its second meeting here today.

The meeting was also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Law and Justice, committee members Ghulam Nabi Azad, N. K. Singh, former Chairman, 15th Finance Commission, Dr. Subhash C. Kashyap, former Secretary General, Lok Sabha, Harish Salve, Senior Advocate and Sanjay Kothari, former Chief Vigilance Commissioner.

During the second meeting, Kovind along with the members confirmed the minutes of the first meeting held on September 23 and the action taken on the decisions thereof.

It said that Secretary of the Committee Nen Chandra apprised the Committee members about the various follow up actions on decisions taken in the first meeting.

“The Committee was informed that according to the decision taken earlier the HLC has been renamed as ‘High Level Committee on One Nation, One Election’. The Committee was also informed that letters have been sent to six national parties, 33 state parties and seven registered unrecognised parties inviting their suggestions on One nation One Election,’ it said.

The Secretary further informed the Committee that a website www.onoe.gov.in has also been developed for the One Nation One Election, which besides being a repository of all relevant information on the subject, shall provide a platform for interaction and receiving suggestions from all stakeholders. The website was launched during the meeting, it said.

“The Law Commission of India made a presentation during the meeting elaborating their suggestions and viewpoints on the issue of simultaneous elections in the country. The law commission was represented by its Chairperson Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Professor Anand Paliwal, Member and Member Secretary Khetrabasi Biswal,” it said.

It said that during the meeting two decisions were unanimously taken by the Committee which included budgetary provision for the committee for current FY -2023-24 being approved and the resignation of Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, from the membership of the committee was noted.

Meanwhile, sources said that the law Commission has also given a detailed presentation to the committee about what are the challenges and how the legal framework needs to be structured for implementing the ‘one nation, one election’.

The source further said that there was even a detailed discussion on the additional number of electronic voting machines required for the process and how much time it would take to procure them.

–IANS