NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi on Wednesday said a committee will be set up to explore the possibility of holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls even as several opposition parties kept away from a meeting he had called to discuss the " One Nation , One Election " proposal.Defence minister Rajnath Singh said the discussions attended by 21 of the 40 parties represented in Parliament - with three more sending written submissions - saw most parties favouring the proposal even as he added that the PM said a decision will be taken by consensus. The meeting saw key absentees such as Congress, Trinamool, BSP, DMK, SP, TDP and AAP. Left parties attended the discussions, but CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said the party felt the move was "anti-federal" and did not support it and it went against accountability of governments. CPI leader D Raja said the proposal was "impractical and unconstitutional" and would need major constitutional changes.Leaders who attended the meeting included NCP leader Sharad Pawar, CPI's D Raja, Bihar chief minister and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar, SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal, Odisha chief minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik and National People's Party leader Conrad Sangma.PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference's Farooq Abdullah also attended the meeting.Pawar is understood to have said the proposal would take time to implement and was not a simple matter. Mehbooba and Abdullah are also understood to have pointed out problems in ensuring simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha polls . BJP ally Shiv Sena was absent as Wednesday was the Foundation Day of the party with a function organised in Mumbai.Among important non-NDA leaders, Patnaik supported the proposal as did YSR Congress's Jaganmohan Reddy. TRS was represented by K Chandrasekhar Rao's son KT Rama Rao, who said the proposal needs more detailed examination before a decision can be arrived at."The PM will form the committee to look into possibilities of simultaneous polls . Exact nature of the committee will be made public later," Singh told the media. He said the committee will give its suggestions on the subject in a time-bound manner and quoted the PM as saying that "One Nation, One Election" was not an agenda of any party but of the nation and that political parties should consider the larger interest of the country. Modi said all parties will be taken into confidence before taking a final decision and differences of opinion will be taken into account with full seriousness."Most parties gave their support, CPI(M) and CPI had a difference of opinion but they didn't oppose the idea, just the implementation of it," Singh claimed. "We had invited 40 political parties, out of which 21 parties participated and three other parties sent their opinion on the subjects in writing."BSP chief Mayawati tweeted on Tuesday morning saying she would have attended the all-party meeting if it was on electronic voting machines (EVMs).Besides simultaneous polls, the PM had invited heads of political parties to discuss several issues, including celebration of 75 years of Independence in 2022 and 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi this year.Last August, the Law Commission recommended simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies to save public money. The draft said, "Holding simultaneous elections is not possible within the existing framework of the Constitution." The panel recommended amendments to the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act to ensure simultaneous elections.The law panel as well as a group of senior officials set up by Modi in his first term had suggested that elections can be synchronised in two phases. The next Lok Sabha election could see states due to go to polls within six months before or after national polls brought together. The remainder states could be brought into the fold in the subsequent the Lok Sabha polls. Lack of consensus ensured the proposal never got off the ground. It now appears that Modi is using his fresh majority to give the proposal another strong push by kick-starting a discussion.