The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024 is a legislative Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 17, 2024, proposing to amend the Constitution of India to implement simultaneous elections for the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and all State Legislative Assemblies. The concept, often termed 'One Nation One Election,' originated from the recommendations of a High-Level Committee (HLC) chaired by former President Mr. Ramnath Kovind, which was constituted in September 2023. The Bill aims to solve the problem of high expenditure, frequent imposition of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), and the constant diversion of administrative machinery caused by separate election cycles.
The Bill proposes to insert a new Article 82A and amend existing Article 83 (Duration of Houses of Parliament), Article 172 (Duration of State Legislatures), and Article 327 (Power of Parliament to make provision with respect to elections). The key mechanism is that the President may issue a notification on the date of the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election, called the "appointed date," to bring the provisions into force. The Bill mandates that the term of all Legislative Assemblies constituted after this date will expire concurrently with the full five-year term of the Lok Sabha. If the Lok Sabha or a State Assembly is dissolved prematurely, the subsequent election will be held only for the remainder of the five-year term to maintain the synchronisation. This framework connects directly to the Election Commission of India (ECI), which is empowered to conduct these simultaneous polls, and is complemented by the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which extends the provisions to UT Assemblies. The Bill is currently being examined by a Joint Parliamentary Committee.