Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding an all-party meet with the key opposition parties on Wednesday to discuss the idea of holding simultaneous elections.
Modi’s pitch for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections has been strongly backed by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), while some other opposition parties termed the suggestion as “impractical”.
The ‘One Nation, One Poll’ was part of BJP’s 2019 manifesto.
The Prime Minister had made a pitch for simultaneous elections in his first term also.
Meanwhile, according to reports, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, DMK chief MK Stalin, NDA ally and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal will skip the all-party meeting. BSP chief Mayawati too has decided to give the meet a miss.
Raghav Chadha will represent AAP in the Parliament.
The Congress too has not confirmed its participation in the meeting.
According to a PTI report, sources have said that the Opposition is sceptical about the idea and are looking at the all-party meet as a “trap” set by the BJP.
An all-party meeting was held in New Delhi on Sunday. During the meeting, the government had sought the support of the Opposition parties to ensure smooth functioning of both the Houses.
Briefing the media after the meeting, Pralhad Joshi had informed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with all party Presidents on June 19 on the issue of One Nation, One Election. He said Modi will also meet all the MPs on June 20.