On the second day of its study visit to Lucknow on Tuesday, the Joint Committee on One Nation One Election interacted with the presiding officers and leaders of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislature as well as certain elected members thereof its study visit to Lucknow.
The Committee also interacted with Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and a few of the Cabinet ministers. It held elaborate discussions about the proposed amendments, the legislative process, Constitutional principles such as federalism, powers given to the Election Commission of India (ECI), plausible impacts on Centre-state relations and regional issues.
Further, the Committee interacted with representatives of the following political parties: BJP, SP, BSP, INC, RLD, AAP, CPI(M) and Apna Dal (S). The representatives explained their political party’s thought process to the Committee. Among other things, the discussions covered the desirability of the electoral reforms, necessity of One Nation One Election, and the plausible effects of bestowing powers upon the Election Commission on the basic structure, federal structure, and requisite safeguards within the ONOE framework to maintain the legal and sociopolitical balance.
The Committee, thereafter, interacted with representatives of various trade organisations including those from EXIM Bank, NaBFID, Ministry of MSME, CII, ASOCHAM, Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Dalit Chamber of Commerce and Aadarsh Vyapar Mandal, among others.
The witnesses present impressed upon the Committee regarding the disruptive impact of multiple elections and resultant invocations of Model Code of Conduct
They also apprised the Committee about the impact on migrant labourers, industry, the economy, and various strata of society.
Thereafter, the Committee sought clarifications and asked all the Chambers of Commerce to provide studies with empirical data so that the Committee can arrive at logical conclusions.
After having a long day of interactions, the Committee ended its deliberations for the day.