Latest news with #JPC
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Though Cong opposes ‘One Nation One Election' Bill, we gave opinion to Parl panel: Himachal CM
Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday said that the party opposes One Nation, One Election. He said this at the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, pertaining to the proposal of One Nation-One Election, held at Fagu. Giving details, the chief minister said, 'The meeting was chaired by Member of Parliament PP Chaudhary. We were invited to share our personal and party's views on One Nation, One Election. The speaker, deputy speaker, and other stakeholders are also being called. As elected representatives, we believe it is our duty to participate in such democratic discussions.' 'Our stand is clear, we oppose One Nation, One Election. However, we gave inputs to strengthen democratic structures. We raised practical concerns what happens when a government collapses mid-term, or an MLA resigns? How will tenures align?' he said. 'If the proposal is to hold all elections in 2029, but our state elections are due in 2027, will those be deferred by two years? These are significant constitutional challenges that need thorough deliberation' Sukhu added while thanking the committee members for visiting Himachal and sharing the draft bill and scope of the proposal. People want One Nation, One Election: Chaudhary 'People want One Nation, One Election , it's not just a political issue, it's a national issue,' said Bharatiya Janata Party MP PP Chaudhary. 'In every state we visit, civil society, scholars, Padma awardees, and even those in Congress-ruled states have shown overwhelming support to one Nation One election,' said Chaudhary, while adding, 'Separate elections mean separate voter lists, multiple deployments, school closures for polling, and repeated election expenditure.' He said that the simultaneous elections were the norm until 1967, which changed only after 1970 due to early dissolution of assemblies. 'No political party can ignore the will of the people. If citizens demand it, even parties that oppose the idea may reconsider,' said Chaudhary. One Nation, One Election would be significant for hill states: Thakur Member of the committee and former Union minister Anurag Thakur said that One Nation, One Election would be significant for hill states like Himachal Pradesh. 'Simultaneous elections save time, money, and reduce disruption especially in hill states' said Anurag. 'The Joint Committee is rightly meeting political leaders, media, and intellectuals to gather diverse perspectives. Students and youth have shown great interest. If this bill becomes law, it can accelerate development and strengthen our democracy.' He said. Basic structure of Constitution must not be altered: Pathnia Himachal assembly speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania said, 'The basic structure of constitution must not be altered. The Constitution already provides for five-year terms for both Parliament and state legislatures. But mid-term elections and breakdowns in governance have disrupted that structure. This committee is exploring whether we can return to that stability.' People want elections held together: Jai Ram Thakur Former chief minister and leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said, 'The One Nation, One Election bill is a bold move. Political parties may have different opinion but the public sentiment is clear in favour of one nation one election.' 'Our party fully supports it. We believe it should be implemented as soon as possible,' added Jai Ram.
India Gazette
5 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
JPC Chairperson on One Nation One Election holds meeting in Chandigarh
Chandigarh [India], June 16 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP PP Chaudhary, the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) Chairperson on One Nation One Election, held a meeting in Chandigarh on Monday. The meeting is currently underway with regional and national political parties of Haryana and Chandigarh, including the BJP, INC, JJP, BSP, INLD, and former Chief Ministers, who are discussing the matter of the One Nation One Election. The 129th Constitutional Amendment Bill for simultaneous national and assembly polls was tabled in the Lok Sabha in December last year. It was later referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee. The Modi government had formed a High-level Committee on simultaneous Elections, under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind, who submitted an over 18,000-page report to President Droupadi Murmu in March last year. Earlier, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema strongly opposed the Centre's One Nation, One Election (ONOE) proposal, terming it a direct assault on the federal structure of the country and against the spirit of the Constitution framed by Dr BR Ambedkar. Speaking to ANI after a meeting with the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) in Chandigarh, Cheema reiterated the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government's firm stance against the initiative, arguing that it undermines state autonomy. 'The JPC and its Chairman visited Punjab today to seek the views of the state government and political parties on One Nation, One Election. We have clearly presented our viewpoint before the Committee--this agenda is harmful to the country. It aims to dismantle the federal structure of the nation and goes against the principles of our Constitution. This move threatens the autonomy of states, and we strongly oppose it. We will not allow it to be passed,' Cheema said. In contrast, State Convener for ONOE, SS Channy, supported the initiative, claiming that 'people want One Nation, One Election to be implemented.' 'I welcome the JPC for coming to Punjab to listen to the political parties. We went around the state, and people want One Nation, One Election to be implemented. This will save time and money,' Channy said, highlighting the potential benefits of reduced election expenditure and administrative disruptions. (ANI)
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Punjab: AAP, Congress, SAD oppose ‘One Nation One Election' proposal
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Opposition Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal registered strong objection to the 'One India One Election' proposal during a meeting with the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), chaired by PP Choudhary, which is in Punjab. Addressing the media after attending the JPC meeting in Chandigarh on Saturday, Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema and AAP state president Aman Arora termed the proposal a direct assault on the fundamental structure and spirit of the Constitution of India, framed by Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar. Stating that the Punjab government and AAP have completely rejected the proposal, and would also give it in writing, Cheema said, 'The One Nation, One Election bill, proposed by the BJP, is a calculated move to eliminate regional parties that represent diverse cultures, languages, and regions, and serve as the backbone of Indian democracy.' He added that the bill, if passed, would render the state assemblies' tenure at the discretion of the Union government. Cheema said the bill will further encourage the misuse of Article 356 (President's Rule) and 360 (financial emergency) by the Union government. The state finance minister said the concept will ultimately backfire as it would enable the Centre to conduct state elections at its convenience a year or two after general elections. Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa also said the proposal goes against the basic concept of federalism guaranteed by the Constitution of India. Pointing out that Parliamentary and assembly elections are held on entirely different issues, Warring said, 'The idea of imposing simultaneous elections to the Parliament and the state assemblies will mean imposing dictatorship by default.' The regional and local issues, which get prominence during the assembly elections, will be ignored and crushed, the PPCC chief said, adding that regional and local aspirations will get muzzled down. SAD urges JPC to recommend dissolution of Article 356 The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), meanwhile, urged the JPC to recommend dissolution of Article 356, which allows for the imposition of President's Rule in the state, saying that it was the root cause for disruption of simultaneous elections in the country. The SAD delegation, led by Dr Daljit Singh Cheema and Balwinder Singh Bhundar, briefed the JPC that in case Article 356 was not done away with, the election schedule would be disrupted again. The delegation also opposed the insertion of Article 82 A, Clause 5, which empowers the Election Commission of India (ECI) to defer elections of legislative assemblies. 'This can be misused against opposition parties anytime,' they asserted. Dr Daljit Singh Cheema and Balwinder Singh Bhundar also demanded a solution to constant byelections. Stating that bypolls were turning out to be the root cause of election malpractices, they proposed that if a legislator expired, the party should be given the right to nominate another leader of the party for the remaining period. The SAD delegation also highlighted the federal concerns of the bill and said it would cause more harm than improvement.
India Gazette
6 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
"We strongly oppose it, won't allow it to be passed": Punjab Minister Cheema on One Nation, One Election
Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], June 14 (ANI): Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday strongly opposed the Centre's One Nation, One Election (ONOE) proposal, terming it a direct assault on the federal structure of the country and against the spirit of the Constitution framed by Dr BR Ambedkar. Speaking to ANI after a meeting with the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) in Chandigarh, Cheema reiterated the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Punjab government's firm stance against the initiative, arguing that it undermines state autonomy. 'The JPC and its Chairman visited Punjab today to seek the views of the state government and political parties on One Nation, One Election. We have clearly presented our viewpoint before the Committee--this agenda is harmful to the country. It aims to dismantle the federal structure of the nation and goes against the principles of our Constitution. This move threatens the autonomy of states, and we strongly oppose it. We will not allow it to be passed,' Cheema said. In contrast, State Convener for ONOE, SS Channy, supported the initiative, claiming that 'people want One Nation, One Election to be implemented.' 'I welcome the JPC for coming to Punjab to listen to the political parties. We went around the state, and people want One Nation, One Election to be implemented. This will save time and money,' Channy said, highlighting the potential benefits of reduced election expenditure and administrative disruptions. Meanwhile, endorsing the One Nation One Election (ONOE) initiative, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra has said it will not only reduce election-related expenses but also speed up the country's development by opening new avenues. Addressing an event at the Constitution Club in the national capital on Friday evening, Mishra said Lok Sabha and assembly polls were conducted simultaneously without any hiccups until 1967, since the first polls in independent India in 1952, as everyone was in support of simultaneous polls, be it the then ruling Congress or Communist parties. 'Everyone supported it, beyond political affiliations, be it then Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru or Communist leaders...,' the former union minister said at the event, organised by Radheshyam Charitable Foundation, to raise awareness about One Nation, One Election. He said the trend was 'broken' due to many reasons. 'It was broken as some new states were formed, and their assembly elections were held... then ruling Congress dismissed the opposition ruled state governments by misusing Article 356; general elections were preponed in 1972... term of Lok Sabha was also increased by an year to 6 years during Emergency...,' said Mishra said, who was the Governor of Rajasthan from 2019 to 2024. Simultaneous polls across the country will significantly reduce poll expenditure and manpower. This is not about any political party, ONOE is 'essential for the country's development,' he stressed. Mishra said it is fully 'according to the Constitution' and said the opposition parties should be asked which schedule of the Constitution forbids the ONOE. The senior leader recalled that even in 1983, the Election Commission felt the need to rethink on the simultaneous polls and said it was essential for the country. He said NITI Aayog in 2016, and other government commissions have also endorsed the ONOE. The 129th Constitutional Amendment Bill for simultaneous national and assembly polls was tabled in the Lok Sabha in December last. It was later referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee. The Modi government had formed a High-level Committee on simultaneous Elections, under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind, who submitted an over 18,000-page report to President Droupadi Murmu in March last year. (ANI)
Business Wire
11-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Hibiki Path Advisors Finalized Its Policy to Oppose ① the Proposed Transition to a Company With an Audit and Supervisory Committee and ② the Election of Certain Director Candidates for the 54 th Annual General Meeting of JAPAN PURE CHEMICAL CO., LTD.
TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hibiki Path Advisors ('we' or 'us') has decided its policy on (Item 1) the proposed transition to a company with an Audit and Supervisory Committee through an amendment of Articles of Incorporation and (Items 2, 3 and 4) the election of directors, in relation to the 54th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders ('AGM') of JAPAN PURE CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (TSE Code: 4973) ('the Company', 'JPC'), scheduled on June 20, 2025. We outlined our policy as a "plan" in the statement of purpose on June 1 (hereinafter, the "Statement"). Since then, we have made persistent and good-faith efforts to engage with JPC. However, due to JPC's continued inaction and lack of meaningful response following the publication of the Statement, we hereby formally confirm that our policy has now been finalized, fully consistent with the content in the Statement. For the detailed rationale behind our planned policy on each proposal in the Statement— please refer to the Statement at the following link: " Regarding the Campaign as the largest Shareholder of JAPAN PURE CHEMICAL CO., LTD." First, we oppose (Item 1) the proposed transition to a company with an Audit and Supervisory Committee through an amendment of Articles of Incorporation. We have serious concern that the transition to a company with an Audit and Supervisory Committee is purely ceremonial, given that the outside directors are predominantly composed of individuals from a specific corporate group, making meaningful oversight unlikely. Furthermore, the proposed expansion to a ten-member Board, representing nearly 20% of the Company's total workforce, will not only risk further slowing down the decision-making process, but also unintentionally lead to a deterioration in the overall corporate governance quality. We are deeply concerned that this transition would effectively grant even greater authority over critical business execution to the current internal executive team despite their ongoing failure to implement fundamental reforms to resolve key management issues. Furthermore, by diluting important authority such as the individual right to conduct audits, the proposal would further erode the effectiveness of auditors (Members of the Audit and Supervisory Committee). As JPC's sole largest shareholder, we find this proposal unacceptable. While our opinion differs from that of Institutional Shareholder Services ('ISS'), it is important to recognize that ISS's analysis is based on uniform, standardized criteria. In our view, given the specific issues surrounding JPC, the proposed transition will not necessarily result in the governance improvements that are expected in more general circumstances. We strongly encourage all shareholders to read our recent Statement related to ISS recommendations carefully and to make a considered, independent decision (7/Jun/2025 – ISS Endorses Hibiki's Shareholder Proposals to JAPAN PURE CHEMICAL CO., LTD.). Second, with respect to (Items 2, 3, and 4) the election of directors, we declare our support exclusively for the reappointment of President and Representative Director Tomoyuki Kojima (Item 2.1) and Outside Director Momoe Kuromatsu (Item 2.6). We oppose the appointments of all other Directors (Items 2, 3, and 4) (including alternates), especially the reappointment of Director and Honorary Advisor Masao Watanabe (Item 2.3). Our rationale is summarized in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: List of the candidate of directors etc. Although our view differs from the ISS's recommendation, our voting decisions on each candidate are determined independently based on a thorough assessment of the Company after years of direct engagement. We strongly believe that the responsibility for the 'capital misallocation' cited by ISS for opposing the reappointment of President and Representative Director Tomoyuki Kojima actually lies with Director and Honorary Advisor Masao Watanabe instead as he had led JPC as a Representative Director for more than 20 years but completely failed to address this issue. In our view, it is essential that Director and Honorary Advisor Watanabe, who has held a dominant leadership position for approximately 25 years to step down from the Board for JPC to undertake bold reforms and enhance corporate value. At the same time, we believe that the structure of the Board of Directors, which has long been composed of members continuously appointed from a limited group of backgrounds, must be fundamentally restructured. Based on the same logic mentioned above, we hereby firmly make it clear that fundamental capital allocation reforms 'within his one-year term' to be our definitive condition in supporting Representative Director Tomoyuki Kojima's re-election for another year. If only the two Directors for whom we supported reappointment are elected at this AGM, JPC will no longer meet the statutory minimum number of Directors required under the Companies Act for a company with a Board of Directors. In that case, as the largest shareholder engaging JPC for many years, we express our strong commitment to collaborate closely with President and Representative Director Tomoyuki Kojima and Outside Director Momoe Kuromatsu to identify and endorse director candidates who will genuinely drive the enhancement of JPC's corporate value. We earnestly expect that such candidates will be proposed at the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. This is to establish a unified corporate structure where the management, shareholders, and employees are synergized to decisively address and overcome the significant challenges that the Company is currently facing. Lastly, as JPC's largest shareholder, we had earnestly requested the voluntary disclosure of the Board of Directors' rules and meeting minutes. We had also requested meetings with all director candidates individually (excluding alternates). We think this is essential for anyone to determine if the proposed transition to a company with an Audit and Supervisory Committee and the appointment of Directors make sense. However, these requests were flatly turned down, and instead the Company proposed a meeting with only three individuals (President and Representative Director Tomoyuki Kojima, Senior Director Motoki Watanabe, and Mr. Yasutoshi Ohata, Chair of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee) which was finally held on 5 th June 2025. In the meeting, we asked focused questions to the three individuals and have thoughtfully assessed their answers internally. However, we have reached the conclusion that the aforementioned fundamental concerns and risks remain unaddressed, as they failed to provide satisfactory explanations regarding the essential rationale for increasing the number of directors while retaining all existing directors and auditors, as well as the necessity and timing of the transition to the Audit and Supervisory Committee system. Once again, we respectfully urge all shareholders to consider supporting our proposals (Items 10, 11, 12, and 13) which are directed to enhancing and maximizing the collective interests of all shareholders. We also request that you as a valuable shareholder exercise shareholder rights (voting rights) for (Item1) amendments to the Articles of Incorporation for the transition to a company with an Audit and Supervisory Committee, and (Items 2, 3, and 4) the election of directors, together with our shareholder proposals, based on your own careful and rational judgment in terms of whether these measures genuinely contribute to the enhancement of the Company's corporate value. As mentioned earlier, we have made it clear that fundamental capital allocation reforms 'within his one-year term' to be our condition in supporting Representative Director Tomoyuki Kojima's re-election for another year. Mr. Kojima should fully acknowledge the clear and persistent challenges concerning capital efficiency of JPC, as correctly pointed out by ISS based on its two consecutive years of endorsing our shareholder proposals related to the matter, and implement long awaited fundamental reforms in capital allocation, completely overwriting the time frame and level that is written in its medium-term plan. *At the time of this release, we remain committed to continuing our dialogue with the Company. Although the progress of discussions so far indicates that a change is unlikely, if any new information gained through ongoing engagement causes us to revise our decision, we will disclose the changes along with the reasons for them. Sincerely yours, Note: This post does not constitute a solicitation for an offer to acquire or recommend the purchase or sale of specific securities, or advice on investment, legal, tax, accounting, or any other matters. In the event of any discrepancy or conflict between the English and Japanese versions, unless otherwise noted, the meaning of the Japanese language version shall prevail unless otherwise expressly indicated.
