'One nation, one election' meet starts, 8 parties skip

New Delhi: A meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss his 'one nation, one election' proposal began here on Wednesday, with eight key opposition parties staying away.

Besides the BJP, those attending the meeting included Akali Dal's Sukhbir Singh Badal, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, BJD President Naveen Patnaik, YSR Congress Party chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, CPI's D. Raja and S. Sudhakar Reddy, CPI-M's Sitaram Yechuri, TRS President K.T. Rama Rao, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti.

Those who gave the meeting a skip included the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, DMK, Trinamool Congress, Telugu Desam Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal.

The Prime Minister called the meeting to discuss his initiative of holding simultaneous elections across the country and the Niti Aayog's proposal to fast-track the socio-economic conditions of 117 districts across 28 states.

The government had invited the chiefs of all parties represented in Parliament for the meeting.

The meeting is also expected to discuss the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this year and celebration of 75 years of India's independence in 2022.

Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, J.P. Nadda and Pralhad Joshi along with other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners attended the meeting.