NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday set up a 31-member parliamentary panel that will scrutinise the two bills proposing simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Manish Tewari are set to be among the Congress representatives in the panel.
The BJP has named Sambit Patra, Anil Baluni and Anurag Singh Thakur, among others.
Law minister Arjun Meghwal will move a mention in the Lok Sabha on Thursday to refer the two Bills to the Joint Parliamentary committee.
“Arjun Ram Meghwal will move the Bill further to amend the Constitution of India and the Bill further to amend the Union Territories Act, 1963, the government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act 1991 and the Jammu and Kashmir reorganization Act, 2019 be referred to a Joint Committee of the Houses consisting of the following 21 Members from this House,” a Lok Sabha secretariat statement said.
Other members from the BJP include PP Chaudhary, CM Ramesh, Bansuri Swaraj, Parshottam Rupala, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Bhartruhari Mahtab and Vishnu Datt Sharma.
While the Congress has fielded Sukhdeo Bhagat as the fourth representative, Samajwadi Party has named Dharmendra Yadav. The Trinamool Congress has named Kalyan Banerjee and DMK nominated TM Selvaganapathi for the panel. The NCP (Sharad Pawar) has Supriya Sule as their representative in the committee.
Among NDA allies, Shrikant Eknath Shinde represents the Shiv Sena while the TDP named GM Harish Balayogi as its nominee. Janasena Party’s Balshowry Vallabhaneni is also a member of the panel.
The Committee will have 10 members from Rajya Sabha as well.
The resolution further said, “In order to constitute a sitting of the Joint Committee the quorum shall be one-third of the total number of members of the Joint Committee; that the committee shall make a report to this House by the first day of the last week of the next session; that in other respects, the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of this House relating to parliamentary committees shall apply with such variations and modifications as the Speaker may make, and this House recommends that Rajya Sabha join the said Joint Committee and communicate to this House names of the members to be appointed by Rajya Sabha to the Joint Committee.”
Amid fierce protests from the Opposition, two bills that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Opposition parties termed the draft laws — a Constitution amendment bill and an ordinary bill — as an attack on the federal structure, a charge rejected by the government.