Prime Minister Narendra Modi met leaders of various political parties on Wednesday, having representation in Parliament to explore possibilities of holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections together amid no show by various opposition parties.

Modi had invited the heads of all political parties which have at least one member either in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha for the meeting to discuss several issues, including the “one nation, one election” idea, celebration of 75 years of Independence in 2022 and the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this year.

Among the notable absentees were Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, BSP supremo Mayawati, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, DMK’s M K Stalin, TDP chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Admi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

Highlights of proceedings on day 3:

7:08 pm IST PM Modi to constitute a committee on ‘one nation, one poll’ After the conclusion of over three-hour long all-party meeting, Union Minister Rajnath Singh said that PM Modi will constitute a committee on the issue of ‘one nation, one poll’.





6:56 pm IST PM’s meet on ‘one nation, one election’ ends Over three-hour long meeting of heads of political parties held at Parliament led by PM Narendra Modi ends.





6:02 pm IST In agreement with PM Modi’s simultaneous poll move, says CM Naveen Patnaik Among the first leaders to exit the meet, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik said, “My party is supporting the idea of ‘One Nation One Election’. Pinaki Misra, BJD’s floor leader in Lok Sabha has also confirmed that the party will bat BJP’s move of conducting simultaneous polls in the country.





3:30 pm IST Sharad Pawar, Naveen Patnaik, Mehbooba Mufti attend poll meet Among the opposition leaders who are attending the meeting are PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, D Raja of CPI , Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury and Andhra chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. Sukhbir Singh Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal and Ram Vilas Paswan of LJP are among the leaders of NDA parties attending the meeting. 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





3:22 pm IST Meeting of political parties’ leaders under PM’s chairmanship begins A meeting of heads of political parties under the chairmansip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins in Parliament, reports ANI. ‘One Nation, One Election’ is among the issues to be discussed at the meeting. Leaders of many parties and chief ministers of some states have already said they will not attend the meeting. These include Mayawati, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Stalin, Chandrababu Naidu and K Chandrasekar Rao.





3:19 pm IST YSR Congress to support ‘One Nation, One Election’ issue YSR Congress Party leader Vijaysai Reddy says, his party will support ‘One Nation,One Election’ issue: ANI.





1:46 pm IST ‘Will run the House in impartial manner’: Om Birla Newly-elected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday said he will run the House in an impartial manner, while asserting that the chair should not be biased, reports news agency PTI. Addressing the House after being unanimously elected as the speaker, Birla assured the members that he will preside over the proceedings in accordance with rules and regulations and “safeguard the interests of the members irrespective of the strength of their parties in the House”. Lok Sabha Speake Om Birla talks to reporters outside the parliament. ( ANI/ Twitter )





1:35 pm IST BSP chief Mayawati, too, says no to PM Modi’s meeting BSP chief Mayawati will give the meeting called on Wednesday by PM Modi on ‘one nation, one election’ a miss. Tweeting about it, she said she would have attended the all-party meeting called by the prime minister if it was on EVMs, and described the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls as a ploy to divert attention from issues like poverty. “The stubbornness of conducting elections through electronic voting machines instead of ballot paper is the real threat to the democracy and Constitution of the country. “In these circumstances, if the meeting was convened to deliberate upon the deadly issue, then I would have definitely attended it,” Mayawati tweeted. The BSP chief joins the chief ministers of Bengal, Andhra, Telangana and Delhi and DMK chief Stalin who have declined to attend Wednesday’s meeting.





12:10 pm IST AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, SAD’s Sukhbir Badal congratulate Speaker Asaduddin Owaisi says, “You are the referee of this House, you have a lot of discretionary powers, I hope you will support and protect us”. Sukhbir Singh Badal, president of SAD, congratulates Om Birla, says, “ we hope that states and parties with less numbers be given adequate time during discussion .”





11:45 am IST Opposition meeting called off, says ANI The meeting of the Opposition, called by Congress, has been called off, reports ANI.





11:25 am IST ‘You are the custodian of the house’: Cong leader Adhir Chowdhury Congress’ leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury speaks about Om Birla. Says, “ you are a social worker and also an agriculturist. Congress congratulates you for being elected. You are the custodian of the House, it is your responsibility to uphold its dignity... we assure you that the Congress will not play a negative role.” Adds, “ India is a multi-party democracy and so, you need to be unbiased.”





11:22 am IST ‘He will discipline and inspire us’: PM on Om Birla PM Modi says, “ Now that such a sensitive person has been elected the speaker, he will discipline as well as inspire us.





11:20 am IST PM Modi praises newly-elected LS speaker Om Birla PM Modi on Om Birla: It is a matter of great pride for the House and we all congratulate Om Birla Ji on being unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Many MPs know Birla Ji well. He has served in the state of Rajasthan as well. The PM adds, “He has been in public life for years. He began as a student leader&has been serving society since then without a break. I got to work with Om Birla as a worker of BJP. Om Birla has been dedicated to social work. He came to Kutch when there was an earthquake and worked for the victims with his associates . He was in Uttarakhand during floods in Kedarnath. He has been distributing blankets in Kota during winter and he has been running a service called Prasadam for the hungry.”





11:10 am IST BJP MP Om Birla elected speaker of Lok Sabha BJP MP from Kota, Om Birla, elected speaker of 17th Lok Sabha after his name was proposed by MPs of various parties. The motion was moved by PM Modi and passed by voice vote.





11:06 am IST MPs propose Om Birla’s name for LS speaker post Members of Parliament from various parties propose BJP lawmaker Om Birla’s name for the post of Lok Sabha speaker. Congress’ leader in the lower house, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, extends support for Birla’s candidature.





10:55 am IST Congress MP says ‘our party not attending meeting’ Gaurav Gogoi, Congress, said, “As far as I know our party is not attending the meeting”, reports ANI .





11:03 am IST Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal won’t attend PM’s meeting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would not be attending the all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The AAP would be represented by party member Raghav Chadha, who was fielded from South Delhi constituency in the recently held Lok Sabha polls, reports news agency PTI.





10:46 am IST CPI’s Sudhakar Reddy to attend meeting CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy will attend the meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament on Wednesday: ANI.





10:40 am IST NCP chief Sharad Pawar to attend PM’s meeting NCP chief Sharad Pawar will attend the meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Parliament on Wednesday. The PM will chair a meeting of heads of various political parties in both the Houses of Parliament: ANI





10:20 am IST Opposition parties to take decision on attending meeting Opposition parties, including the Congress, are yet to decide on participate in Wednesday ‘s meeting.



