Mamata Banerjee to not attend meeting on 'One Nation One Election' tomorrow

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is not attending the meeting on "One Nation One Election" committee meeting tomorrow.

Banerjee today said that she would not attend the meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi on Tuesday while citing engagements related to the upcoming state budget.

"I have cancelled my New Delhi trip. The state budget will be presented in the assembly on February 8, and there are only two days to go. In this situation, I had to call off the visit," Mamata Banerjee told reporters today.

The TMC chief said that she has informed about her plans to skip the meeting to the committee chief and former President Ramnath Kovind. 

In her absence, TMC MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kalyan Banerjee will represent the party in the meeting. The Budget session of the West Bengal Assembly started today and the state Budget is likely to be tabled on January 8.

The One Nation One Elections committee has been tasked with reviewing and proposing recommendations for conducting concurrent elections to the Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities, and panchayats, while considering the current constitutional framework.

Noteworthy here is that Mamata Banerjee had last month expressed disagreement with the concept of simultaneous polls and wrote to panel members, arguing that it would be against the basic structure of constitutional arrangements.