Holding simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies in 2029 under the Modi government’s ‘One Nation, One Election’ initiative is possible if the Constitution is amended and state governments support the move, according to P.P. Chaudhary, the chairman of the joint parliamentary panel examining the related bills.
The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which aim to synchronise Lok Sabha and State Assembly polls, were sent to the 31-member joint committee of Parliament headed by Mr. When asked if State assembly elections could be held alongside the 2029 Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Chaudhary said on Monday (August 24, 2026) that if the constitutional amendment is approved in Parliament by 2028, the rollout of ‘One Nation, One Election’ can begin that same year.
Chaudhary, a BJP MP from Rajasthan, following the Opposition’s demand for broader scrutiny. “They have to make their own decisions. It depends on the respective Chief Ministers and their Council of Ministers. If the Council of Ministers of the States decide in favour of ‘One Nation One Election’, that State elections should be held along with the Lok Sabha polls, then it is possible. It is up to them what they decide. The Indian Constitution allows that; it is permissible. Mr. The Bills were formulated after a high-level panel, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, recommended holding Lok Sabha, State assembly and local body elections simultaneously in a phased manner. Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also a member of the high-level panel headed by Mr. Kovind.
“Under the Indian Constitution, the states are empowered to hold simultaneous polls,” he told reporters at the Parliament House complex after a meeting of the panel. “We have visited 10 states and interacted with a cross-section of people, and we have realised that 99 per cent of people, civil society, want simultaneous polls for Lok Sabha and State Mssemblies,” he said. Chaudhary said the Parliament mandated the committee to examine the legislation and fix the shortcomings, if any, and make sure that the simultaneous polls are held successfully.
