Mamata, Mayawati to skip PM Modi's 'One Nation One Poll' meeting today

Modi has called the chiefs of all political parties to discuss the issue.

In a letter to Prahlad Joshi, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Banerjee sought a White Paper on the subject, saying the matter requires consultation with experts, reported NDTV.

In West Bengal's political paradigm, a strong battle could be seen between the TMC and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the saffron brigade making a deep inroad in the eastern state by winning 18 of 42 Lok Sabha seats recently.

Mayawati said the Prime Minister's push for "One Nation One Poll" is a way to deviate people's attention from important issues. "Elections can never be a problem in any democracy. It is not right to link elections with the use and misuse of money. The discussion over a single election is a way to deviate people's attention from the national issues like poverty, inflation, unemployment, increased violence," she had tweeted.

Also Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao and DMK supremo MK Stalin are likely to skip the meeting. Though Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal and Telegu Desam Party (TDP) head Nara Chandrababu Naidu will skip the meeting, they will send representatives to participate in the discussion.

Even during his first tenure, Modi had expressed his eagerness to hold simultaneous polls to avoid the use of huge money. Also the Prime Minister feels both the Centre and states can work together much more if the parties are not in an election mode frequently.