2nd meeting of 'one nation, one election' to take place on Oct 25

New Delhi: The second official meeting of the 'one nation, one election', under the chairmanship of former President Ram Nath Kovind is set to take place on October 25, sources said on Friday.

This comes after the Narendra Modi-led BJP government constituted a committee headed by former President Kovind.

Besides Kovind, the government had named former Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former chairman of the 15th Finance Commission N.K Singh, former Secretary General of Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap, Senior advocate Harish Salve and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari to the eight-member panel.

However, Chowdhury declined the invitation to be part of the committee.

According to a gazette notification, the committee will look into the feasibility of holding not only Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously, but also elections to municipalities and panchayats.

The committee will also analyse and recommend possible solutions linked to simultaneous elections if there is a hung House, no-confidence motion, defection, or any such event.

A single electoral roll and identity card for voters valid for the national, state, civic body, and panchayat elections will be explored, the government had said in the notification.

The first official meeting of the committee was held at the Jodhpur Hostel in the national capital on September 23 during which the members decided to hold a discussion and get suggestions from the stakeholders and the political parties.

It was attended by Amit Shah, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and others.

With inputs from IANS