 bill no 152 of  2016 the constitution (amendment) bill, 2016 byshri bhartruhari mahtab, mpa billfurther to amend the constitution of indiabe  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—amendment of article 752 in article 75 of the constitution, after clause (3), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—"(3a) a motion of no-confidence in the council of ministers shall be accompanied by a motion of confidence, which shall specify the successor prime minister5(3b) a motion of no-confidence in the council of ministers shall be voted uponsimultaneously with the accompanying motion of confidence and both the motions together shall be treated as carried or defeated, as the case may be"amendment of article 1643 in article 164 of the constitution, after clause (2), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—10"(2a) a motion of no-confidence in the council of ministers shall be accompaniedby a motion of confidence, which shall specify the successor chief minister(2b) a motion for no-confidence in the council of ministers shall be voted upon simultaneously with the accompanying motion of confidence and both the motions together shall be treated as carried or defeated, as the case may be"15amendment of article 1724 in article 172 of the constitution, after clause (1), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—20"(1a) notwithstanding anything in this constitution, the central government shall, within six months from the date of coming into force of the constitution (amendment) act, 2016, in consultation with the election commission, determine the manner of extending or curtailing the duration of the term of the state legislative assemblies in order to synchronise the general elections to the state legislative assemblies with the general elections to the house of the people that shall be held after the coming into force of the constitution (amendment) act, 2016"5 after article 326 of the constitution, the following article shall be inserted, namely:—25insertion of new article 326a simultaneous elections"326a the elections to the house of the people and the legislative assemblies of all the states shall be held simultaneously" statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe constitution vests the power of superintendence, direction and control of elections with the election commission india being the largest democracy, it is quite obvious that the magnitude and scale of conduct of elections is also of immense proportions such an exercise does cost resources and is time consuming too it is not surprising that the country often finds itself in a perpetual election mode because of conduct of separate elections to lok sabha and the state assemblieswhile elections are the cornerstone of a democracy, it is equally important that the conduct of elections does not, in any way, hinder the process of governance this is where frequent elections are considered undesirable and a case for simultaneous elections to lok sabha and the state assemblies is made outthe first argument put forth for advocacy of simultaneous elections is that it will considerably reduce the cost of elections conduct of separate elections to lok sabha and state assemblies requires huge costs in terms of men and material if these elections are held simultaneously on the same day, the financial burden on both the exchequer and the political parties will be reduced considerably this can further reduce the role of dubious money that presently vitiates the election process secondly, the model code of conduct tends to disrupt the process of governance since many governmental initiatives have to be put on hold till the completion of elections thirdly, the electioneering campaigns also disrupt the normal public life at times, there are clashes between political workers and some unscrupulous elements resort to inciting communal violence, defamatory statements and other unethical practicesthe conduct of simultaneous elections is, however, also challenging most prominent among those challenges is the possibility of early dissolution of lok sabha or a state assembly moreover, there are questions on capabilities of the election machinery to conduct such a massive exercisethe bill, seeks to amend the constitution with a view to:—(i) amend article 75 of the constitution to provide that a motion of no-confidence shall be accompanied by a motion of confidence naming the successor prime minister and both these motions shall be voted upon together and accordingly carried or defeated together;(ii) to amend article 164 to make similar provisions in respect of motion of no-confidence brought in a state assembly;(iii) to make transitional provision that on commencement of the provisions contained in the bill, the central government shall take a decision, in consultation with the election commission, regarding extending or curtailing the duration of state legislative assemblies so that the elections to the assemblies may coincide with next elections to lok sabha; and(iv) insert a new article 326a in the constitution providing for simultaneous elections to lok sabha and the state legislative assemblies hence the billnew delhi;bhartruhari mahtabmay 2, 2016 annexure extract from the constitution of india|     |     |     |     |     |     |    ||------|------|------|------|------|------|-----|75 (1) the prime minister shall be appointed by the president and the other ministers shall be appointed by the president onthe advice of the prime ministerother provisions as to ministers|     |     |     |     |     |    ||------|------|------|------|------|-----|(3) the council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the house of the people|     |     |     |     |     |     |    ||------|------|------|------|------|------|-----|other provisions as to ministers164 (1) the chief minister shall be appointed by the governor and the other ministers shall be appointed by the governor on the advice of the chief minister, and the ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the governor:provided that in the states of chhattisgarh, jharkhand, madhya pradesh and orissa, there shall be a minister in charge of tribal welfare who may in addition be in charge of the welfare of the scheduled castes and backward classes or any other work|     |     |     |     |     |     |    ||------|------|------|------|------|------|-----|(2) the council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the legislative assembly of the state|     |     |     |     |     |     |    ||------|------|------|------|------|------|-----|duration of state legislatures172 (1) every legislative assembly of every state, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and no longer and the expiration of the said period of five years shall operate as a dissolution of the assembly:provided that the said period may, while a proclamation of emergency is in operation, be extended by parliament by law for a period not exceeding one year at a time and not extending in any case beyond a period of six months after the proclamation has ceased to operate(2) the legislative council of a state shall not be subject to dissolution, but as nearly as possible one-third of the members thereof shall retire as soon as may be on the expiration of every second year in accordance with the provisions made in that behalf by parliament by law|     |     |     |     |     |     |    ||------|------|------|------|------|------|-----|———— a billfurther to amend the constitution of india————(shri bhartruhari mahtab, mp)gmgipmrnd—1044ls(s3)—02-07-2016