Would've attended if it was about EVMs: Mayawati skips all-party meet on simultaneous polls

BSP chief Mayawati Wednesday said holding simultaneous national and state elections "appears to be an undemocratic and unconstitutional" idea for a vast country like India as she declined to attend an all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.

She said that elections in any democracy can never be a problem "nor elections should be weighed from the point of view of expenditure and extravagance".

'One nation, one election' is not an issue before the country, she said. "Elections through ballot papers are actually the national issue and our party will continue its struggle for it."
"The 'one nation, one election' is in fact an attempt to divert the attention from burning national issues such as poverty, inflation, unemployment and increase in violence, and is simply an illusion."
After Modi addressed a NITI Aayog meeting last week, an official release said, "The Prime Minister called for widespread debate and consultations on simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas, keeping in view various aspects such as the resulting financial savings and consequent better utilisation of resources."