Parliament shaken by simultaneous polls bills

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to refer two Bills to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for wider deliberations.

• Opposition leaders argue that the constitutional amendment would subordinate State legislatures to Parliament, undermining the mandate of the people.

• Congress’s deputy leader, Gaurav Gogoi, argues that the Bills give “excessive powers” to the Election Commission, whose role and powers have been circumscribed in the Constitution.

• Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader T.R. Baalu and Nationalist Congress Party member Supriya Sule favor referring the Bills to a parliamentary committee if they cannot be withdrawn.

• Samajwadi Party member Dharmendra Yadav and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi claim that the Bills would “nish o regional parties” and introduce Presidential form of democracy.

• There was a heated debate over Speaker Om Birla allowing members of the Treasury Benches — the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Shiv Sena (Shinde) — to speak on the Bills.

• Congress MPs Manickam Tagore and Shashi Tharoor cite the division of votes as a political challenge for the government.