ONOE bills too meet JPC fate: Is PM Modi’s political acumen faltering?

New Delhi: As the National Democratic Alliance government plans to send the 'One Nation, One Election' (ONOE) legislation to a Joint Parliamentary Committee, political pundits are struggling to understand if this is a cautious strategy for contentious bills or if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is faltering on political strategy.

Within a few months of his third term, coming under intense opposition pressure, the Modi government is set to send a second high-priority Bill to the JPC. This comes just weeks after giving into the demand of the opposition to form a JPC to look into the proposed amendments to the Waqf Act, which has also been given an extension during the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

Earlier, the Centre had also decided to scrap the much-promoted lateral entry scheme to employ senior officials in the Government of India. 

The government also withheld the draft of the Broadcast Bill after a significant uproar from content creators and the opposition.

The ONOE Bill is likely to be introduced later this week and is set to be referred to a parliamentary panel for broader consultation with all political parties to reach a consensus on synchronising elections across the nation, sources said.

On all these issues the NDA government had come under severe criticism from the opposition camp and had to take evasive manoeuvres. 

It is understood that with a reduced majority in the current Lok Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party doesn’t want to antagonise anyone across the political spectrum.

The aggression of the earlier two terms of the Narendra Modi government is missing and the Central government's dealing with these controversial issues is defensive at best. 

"The government is now in a mode of extreme caution, so as not to offend the opposition political parties. However, this may embolden the opposition as these tactical withdrawals of the government can be seen as a sign of weakness," sources pointed out. 

The ONOE proposal is seen as a significant reform to reduce time, cost and resources expended under the current staggered electoral system and has been one of the high-priority legislation that has been pushed by the Bharatiya Janata Party as its core agenda in the third term.   

The Union Cabinet has already approved the recommendations of the Ram Nath Kovind-led committee on simultaneous elections.

Sources in the government clarified that it is trying to evolve a consensus on the Bill, with plans to refer it to a JPC for detailed deliberation. It is believed that if the Bill is referred to the JPC, a law on it can be delayed by at least one year.

The opposition, led by the Congress, has been consistently expressing its dissent on the ONOE Bill. The opposition has described the Bill as "impractical, undemocratic and unconstitutional". While also arguing that implementing simultaneous polls will be a logistical and operational nightmare for the Election Commission of India.

Implementing ONOE will require extensive Constitutional amendments, including the passage of several Bills with a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament. Hence, the a need to build a consensus on the issue, government sources pointed out.

It seems that despite political relief provided to the BJP by its recent electoral wins in Maharashtra and Haryana, the Narendra Modi government is unwilling to take on the opposition head-on.