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Half the invitees skip PM Narendra Modi's meet

Only 21 of the 41 parties invited attended the meeting convened by the PM to debate and discuss the idea, while three had sent letters stating why they would not be able to attend the meet

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PM Modi, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, Ministers of State Arjun Meghwal and Jitendra Singh arrive at the meet of party heads in Delhi on Wednesday
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Having received a wary response from a host of political parties to his 'One Nation, One Election' pitch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that a high-level political committee will be set up to study the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections.

Only 21 of the 41 parties invited attended the meeting convened by the PM to debate and discuss the idea, while three had sent letters stating why they would not be able to attend the meet, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said after the marathon meeting.

Earlier, eight parties including Congress, Dravida Munetra Kazgham, Trinamool Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal, had decided to give the meeting a slip.

A Congress leader said the parties decided to skip it as they sniffed a conspiracy by the BJP to lend legitimacy to the idea of simultaneous elections.

TMC chief Mamata Banerjee had shot off a letter on Tuesday saying the agenda was set at a short notice and the Centre should have first circulated a white paper inviting suggestions on such a "sensitive and serious" issue.

BSP chief Mayawati tweeted she would have attended the meet if it was on electronic voting machines. 

TDP chief K Chandrashekhar Rao and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray too chose to remain away from the meeting.



(Chief Ministers Naveen Patnaik, Nitish Kumar seen attending meeting—PTI)

Many opposition parties chose to counter the idea and sent their chiefs to attend the meeting.

Among Opposition leaders who attended the meeting were NCP chief Sharad Pawar, BJD president Naveen Patnaik, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary Sudhakar Reddy, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.

The toughest rebuttal to the idea came from Yechury, who said holding simultaneous polls would tamper with the constitutional scheme of accountability of the government to the legislature.

"Apart from the technical issues involved in holding simultaneous elections to Parliament and state assemblies, our opposition to this is based on the fact that it is fundamentally anti-federal, anti-democratic and strikes at the roots of the parliamentary democratic system, as ordained in the Constitution," said Yechury.

Yechury said under the Constitution, if a government loses the confidence of the legislature either by being voted out on a no-confidence motion or by losing a vote on a Money Bill, it is bound to resign. And if no alternative government can be formed, the House would be dissolved and a mid-term election held, he argued.

Rajnath Singh, though, claimed most parties were receptive to the idea and had given a go-ahead. "CPM and CPI had a difference of opinion but they did not oppose the idea, just the implementation of it," Singh said.

"Today's meeting was held to discuss how to increase the productivity of the House, 'one nation, one poll', preparations for celebrating 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi and other issues. All issues were discussed at length," said Singh.

In Attendance   

Only 21 of the 41 political parties invited attended Wednesday’s meet: Oppn leaders who recorded their presence included NCP’s Sharad Pawar, BJD’s Naveen Patnaik, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s Sudhakar Reddy, NC’s Farooq Abdullah, PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti

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