Overview
- The Joint Parliamentary Committee will convene at the Parliament House Annexe on July 11 to examine the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024
- Former Chief Justices D Y Chandrachud and J S Kehar are set to present legal analyses alongside senior advocate E M Sudarsana Natchiappan and ex–law minister M Veerappa Moily
- Chandrachud’s written submission argues that simultaneous elections do not violate the Constitution’s basic structure and that staggered polls are not an immutable feature
- The government maintains that aligning Lok Sabha and state assembly elections by 2034 will reduce costs, curb policy paralysis under the Model Code of Conduct, and streamline development
- Critics warn that the proposal threatens federalism by potentially shortening some state assembly tenures to two or three years and centralizing electoral control