3 min readNew DelhiApr 2, 2026 03:16 AM IST
Vice-chancellors and professors of eight National Law Universities (NLUs), who met the Joint Committee of Parliament on ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bills on Wednesday, were said to have suggested that the Election Commission’s powers should be limited and that a constructive vote of no-confidence should be added.
BJP MP P P Chaudhary, the Committee’s Chairman, said that the discussion was “very good” and that the representatives made many good suggestions that would be considered. “The NLU V-Cs and representatives made presentations. The Committee members had some more questions, so we have asked the NLUs to send us their responses to those as well.”
Parliamentary committee proceedings are privileged and details of exchanges between members during meetings are not made public.
Vice-Chancellors and other representatives of eight NLUs — Jodhpur, Kochi, Patna, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Maharashtra and Lucknow — met the House panel on simultaneous elections. The NLUs are said to have suggested that a clause for a constructive no-confidence motion—like the one in Germany, Belgium and Spain—be added. This would mean that a no-confidence vote against a government can only be passed if there is a majority to back another PM or CM.
As per the Bills, once elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are synchronised, if any government falls, elections would be held for the remainder of the term. The experts are said to have suggested that having a constructive vote of no-confidence would ensure a more stable government.
Limiting the scope of EC’s power, it is learnt, was among the amendments suggested to safeguard democracy.
The Bills give the EC the power to defer any Assembly election if it is of the “opinion” that the election cannot be held with the Lok Sabha. The NLUs are also said to have flagged this as going beyond the powers given to the EC under the Constitution and affecting federal structure. They are also said to have suggested that a list of circumstances under which the EC can defer an Assembly election be added, along with a definite timeline for holding the election.
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Some NLUs are said to have suggested that the implementation of the Bills should require ratification by two-thirds of the State Assemblies as it would affect federalism. The NLUs are also said to have suggested giving statutory force to MCC to strengthen the independence of EC, an independent EC secretariat and appointing Election Commissioners by a collegium of the PM, Leader of Opposition and the CJI.
