BJP's PP Chaudhary To Head Parliament Panel On 'One Nation, One Poll'

BJP MP PP Chaudhary has been appointed chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee to examine the simultaneous polls bill, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said.

The JPC to review the 'One Nation, One Poll' bill has 27 members from the Lok Sabha and 12 from the Rajya Sabha, instead of the earlier 21 members from the lower house and 10 from the upper house, as was initially declared.

The strength increased after former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena UBT leader Uddhav Thackeray and a few other parties pointed out that none of their members have been included in the committee.

Even so, the committee - which the government wants to include all political parties - still does not have members from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party.

One member from Shiv Sena UBT has been included now.

Former Union ministers Anurag Thakur, Parshottam Rupala, Manish Tewari and several first-term MPs including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Bansuri Swaraj and Sambit Patra are members of the committee.

The committee has been given time to submit its report by the first day of the last week of the next parliament session.

The JPC will determine whether the Constitution can be amended to hold national and state elections simultaneously.

Opposition MPs have opposed the proposed amendments, and have argued that the proposed change could disproportionately benefit the ruling party, giving it undue influence over the electoral process in states, and undermine the autonomy of regional parties.

The bill was approved by the cabinet last week.