Panel to study feasibility of one nation, one election

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will set up a panel to give suggestions on issues related to 'one nation, one election' proposal, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh after the meeting to discuss simultaneous polls on Wednesday.

Most parties which attended the meeting chaired by Modi had assured support to the proposal of simultaneous polls, Rajnath added. "We had invited 40 political parties out of which presidents of 21 parties participated and three other parties sent their opinion on the subjects in writing," he added. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India expressed their disagreement over the proposal, said Rajnath.

"They had a difference of opinion, but they did not oppose the idea. They just opposed the implementation of it," the minister said after the meeting. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik extended full support to the idea of 'one nation-one election', saying that frequent polls affect the pace of development and "rock the spirit of cooperative federalism".

"The BJD will fully support the idea of 'one nation, one election'," Patnaik said, adding that there has to be a "give and take" attitude in the larger interest of the country.The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president also called for a re-look into the Land Acquisition Act and the Forest Conservation Act.

Mumbai Congress president Milind Deora called for a debate on the issue of holding simultaneous polls. Being in continuous election mode is a roadblock to good governance and distracts politicians from addressing real issues, he said.

Terming 'one nation-one election' an "important and valuable reform", Deora said the government should decide on it by taking all political parties on board and seeking opinions of the intelligentsia, organisations working for electoral reforms, and students.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Aam Aadmi Party's Arvind Kejriwal and Telangana Rashtra Samithi's K Chandrashekar Rao were among the top leaders who stayed away from the meeting. While the AAP was represented by Raghav Chadha, KCR deputed his son KT Rama Rao.

Banerjee on Tuesday had turned down the invitation, saying that the Centre should prepare a white paper on the 'one nation-one election' issue for consultations. Mayawati tweeted saying she would have attended the meeting if it was the subject of electronic voting machines (EVMs).