Opposition leaders skip meeting on simultaneous polls

Several Opposition leaders on Wednesday skipped the all-party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss simultaneous elections in the country.

Thelist of leaders not attending the meeting includes former Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister N Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal CM and Trinamool chief MamataBanerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Partychief Arvind Kejriwal, BSP chief Mayawati. Congress leaders have also not attended the as theparty opposed to the idea of holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and assemblyelections.

Delhi: Inside visuals of the meeting of heads of political parties in Parliament, under chairmanship of PM Narendra Modi. JDU's Nitish Kumar, NC's Farooq Abdullah, SAD's Sukhbir Singh Badal, BJD's Naveen Patnaik, PDP's Mehbooba Mufti, YSRCP's Jagan Mohan Reddy & others present. pic.twitter.com/KYgEHRjAtv

— ANI (@ANI) June 19, 2019

Hours before the meeting, BSP chief Mayawati tweeted that the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls as a ploy to divert attention from issues like poverty. Though, she stated that she would have attended the meeting if it was on EVM.

किसी भी लोकतांत्रिक देश में चुनाव कभी कोई समस्या नहीं हो सकती है और न ही चुनाव को कभी धन के व्यय-अपव्यय से तौलना उचित है। देश में 'एक देश, एक चुनाव' की बात वास्तव में गरीबी, महंगाई, बेरोजबारी, बढ़ती हिंसा जैसी ज्वलन्त राष्ट्रीय समस्याओं से ध्यान बांटने का प्रयास व छलावा मात्र है।

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) June 19, 2019

However, NDA partner Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is not attending the meeting.