Union home minister Amit Shah and law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Wednesday met former president Ram Nath Kovind, who is heading a government panel exploring the feasibility of simultaneous state and national elections, ahead of the committee’s first formal meeting likely to be held next week, people aware of the matter said.
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Kovind’s office said Shah -- who is also part of the government panel -- and Meghwal visited the former president in a courtesy meeting that lasted about 45 minutes.
”Amit Shahji had not met President Kovind after he took charge of this panel and so he and the law minister came and briefed him today,’’ said an official, not wanting to be named. As Kovind is travelling till September 12, the first meeting of the newly formed panel is likely to take place after that.
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Other than Shah and Kovind, the other members of the panel announced on Saturday are former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad; chairman of the 15th finance commission NK Singh; former secretary-general of Lok Sabha Subhash C Kashyap; senior advocate Harish Salve; and former chief vigilance commissioner Sanjay Kothari. Meghwal is a special invitee while Niten Chandra, secretary in the department of legal affairs, will act as the secretary to the committee.
{{/usCountry}}Other than Shah and Kovind, the other members of the panel announced on Saturday are former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad; chairman of the 15th finance commission NK Singh; former secretary-general of Lok Sabha Subhash C Kashyap; senior advocate Harish Salve; and former chief vigilance commissioner Sanjay Kothari. Meghwal is a special invitee while Niten Chandra, secretary in the department of legal affairs, will act as the secretary to the committee.
{{/usCountry}}Congress lawmaker Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury declined to join the panel, citing its terms of reference as already favouring simultaneous polls.
Among the issues that will also be considered for feasibility of the plan — which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described as an important electoral reform — will be to examine the logistics of manpower and electronic voting machines (EVMs) that may be required.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has pushed for simultaneous polls, with Modi referred to it as One Nation, One Election. But opposition parties have criticised the suggestion, saying it is anti-democratic.