Start public discourse on simultaneous polls, PM to NDA constituents

On a day President Ram Nath Kovind called for a sustained debate for political consensus on simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the NDA constituents to proceed with the idea and initiate a public discourse over the issue.

The Prime Minister's remarks came during his address here at a meeting of the floor leaders of the National Democratic Alliance on Monday.

According to informed sources, Modi asked the leaders to begin a public discourse over the issue at every platform so that frequent polls that put a burden on economy and governance can be avoided and development process is not hampered.

The floor leaders also congratulated Modi on his address at Davos and his unprecedented initiative to invite all 10 Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Heads of States to be guests for the Republic Day Parade.

"Narendra Modi was the first Prime Minister to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos in 20 years and he was the first ever Indian Prime Minister to be invited to speak at the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum which is a premier forum for deliberations on vital global issues," an official statement said.

It said that Prime Minister's presence was not only an acknowledgement of India's growing strategic profile in the world but also provided a platform to share the vision about India's future engagement with the international community.

"It was at the bold initiative of the Prime Minister that we decided to invite 10 leaders of Asean as Chief Guests on the occasion of our 69th Republic Day.

"In our history, it was a historic occasion that all ten Asean leaders not only attended the Summit but participated at the Republic Day ceremony. It is a testimony to Prime Minister's leadership and his vision that we had a successful event in all respects," the statement added.

Prior to the meeting, Modi also attended a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary party executive.

A strategy to counter opposition was charted out in the meet, sources said.

They said the Prime Minister also stressed upon the need of "jordar" presence of the members in both the Houses of Parliament and asked them to come prepared on subjects of discussion.

He also asked the members to play an effective role in the parliamentary committees in view of government's policies.

--IANS

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