Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah and BJP working president J.P. Nadda at a meeting with the leaders of political parties ahead of the Budget Session in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Amidst discord and boycott, Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to set up a panel to study the feasibility of and give suggestions on the “One Nation, One Election” idea at a meeting at the Parliament Library here on Wednesday.

Making it clear it “is not an agenda of a single party but an issue of national importance, and the views of all parties will be given due importance,” the PM said that a committee would be set up to look into this issue and to come up with suggestions “in a time-bound manner”.

Out of the 40 political parties invited to the meeting, the presidents of 21 attended the meeting while three sent their views in writing and 16 parties were not present. The Opposition leaders who skipped the meet included Trinamul Congress boss and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, AAP supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, BSP chief Mayawati, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, DMK chief M.K. Stalin, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, JD(S) leader and Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav. The TRS was represented by its working chief K.T. Rama Rao.

As the AIADMK did not send its chief, its representative K.C. Shanmagam, state finance minister, was not allowed to participate. The government had issued a clear directive that only party chiefs or acting presidents would be allowed at the meeting. However, the other Opposition parties which attended it included the Left parties, the NCP, National Conference and the PDP. NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, who spoke immediately after the Prime Minister’s opening remarks, backed the idea of holding simultaneous polls but said the idea was unimplementable. His views were similar to those of Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who had demanded a white paper on the matter.

National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah and People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, while backing the “One Nation, One Election” idea, questioned the BJP on  “Why did you not do it in Jammu Kashmir?”

Besides the NDA allies, those supporting the concept of “One Nation, One Election” included BJD chief and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, YRS Congress leader and Andhra Pradesh CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and JD-U chief and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Mr Patnaik told reporters that he supported “One Nation, One Election”. Nitish Kumar too supported the idea and said it would save the nation a lot of money. The Shiv Sena, an NDA ally, did not attend as it was party’s foundation day and its chief Uddhav Thackeray was in Mumbai.

Briefing the media after the meeting that lasted for nearly four hours, defence minister Rajnath Singh said the parties which attended the meeting supported the concept of “One Nation, One Election”. He claimed even as the Left parties — CPI and the CPI(M) — had “differences of opinion” on how the joint elections’ exercise would be held, they were “not opposed to the idea” and there was unanimity on having a dialogue and discussion on it.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and the CPI’s K. Sudhakar Reddy attended the meet. Mr Yechury told the media that he had submitted a written note on various issues saying the matter was very sensitive and needed to be discussed properly. “Apart from technical issues on the holding of simultaneous elections to Parliament and the state Assemblies, our opposition is based on the fact that it is fundamentally anti-federal, anti-democratic and strikes at the root of the parliamentary system as ordained in the Constitution,” CPI(M) leader said.

“I had to remind them there is a process and legality involved. We need several amendments in the Constitution. I reminded them of Article 356, and its gross misuse in 1959 against the Communist government in Kerala. I asked them what will you do with Article 356, and there was total silence on that... There cannot be any suppression of the will of the people,” Mr Yechury said. He added that the government was not clear on this issue and alleged that the whole exercise was to bring the “presidential form of government through the backdoor”.

Apart from “One Nation, One Election” four other issues were discussed at the meeting. These included ways to improve the productivity of Parliament, building a “New India” in the 75th year of Independence, programmes to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary and the development of aspirational districts.

Elaborating on these, Mr Rajnath Singh said that several party chiefs noted with concern frequent adjournments and disruptions in Parliament and observed this impacts productivity and denies members the opportunity to express their views on the issues of the day. “It was discussed that an atmosphere of discussion and dialogue must prevail in Parliament so that approximately half the members of the 17th Lok Sabha who are first-time MPs get an opportunity to express their views,” Mr Singh said.

In the discussion on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Mr Yechury raised the lynchings and “glorification of the assassin of Mahatna Gandhi” while stressing on the need to promote secularism. Mr Rajnath Singh said parties were also of the view that some firm resolve for the development of the country can be taken on this occasion, and the aim was to accomplish these goals by 2022, the 75th year of India’s Independence.

Talking about the development of aspirational districts, Mr Modi said that state governments need to work in coordination with the Centre to bring the most backward districts in their states at par with the best performing districts so that the goal of a “New India” could be achieved by 2022. Mr Singh said the PM felt that at least 10 per cent blocks in each state should be brought to the level of the state average.

Besides the presidents of political parties, the PM and the defence minister, other Cabinet ministers present included home minister Amit Shah; road transport minister Nitin Gadkari; agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar; social justice and empowerment minister Thawar Chand Gehlot and parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi.