To mark 75 years of the Constituent Assembly of India adopting the Constitution on 26 Nov 1949, the Union govt. planned two-day sessions each in the Lok Sabha (Lower House) and Rajya Sabha (Upper House). The INC lined up a fairly representative list of speakers on 13-14 Dec in the Lok Sabha. INC MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa recounted Panjab’s immense contribution to India’s freedom struggle, its current vulnerability as a border state, and the fact that no leader had mentioned Panjab or Sikhs in their speeches. He also criticized the Haryana govt. for police action and brutality unleashed on farmers and was joined by the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi. Both the Treasury and Opposition benches clashed over Constitutional values with the BJP often repeating the INC’s Emergency, 1975-77, and first time MP INC’s Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asking the BJP to also learn from the Emergency and not repeat those mistakes. On 17 Dec, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced two significant bills in the Lok Sabha. These include the One Nation, One ElectionBill, officially titled The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill. The bills mandate that the whole nation—28 states and 8 union territories—must vote on the same day along with General Elections to the Indian Parliament. Several Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and MK Stalin have opposed the idea, calling the bills ‘anti-democratic’ and an authoritarian move designed to ‘undermine India’s democracy.’ The BJP needs a two-third majority to make an amendment to the Constitution but they do not have those numbers.
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