Modi mum on poll code violation

After the rough and tumble of the Gujarat election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday refrained from commenting on the Opposition's charges of violating the Model Code of Conduct.

Modi came face-to-face with Opposition leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Derek O'Brien at the all-party meeting convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament beginning on Friday.

Leaders of nine Opposition parties, who held a strategy meeting before joining the discussion with the government, said they would quiz Modi in Parliament on his repeated violation of the Model Code of Conduct while campaigning for the Gujarat Assembly elections and hurling insults against former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former vice president Hamid Ansari and former army chief Deepak Kapoor.

At the meeting, the Opposition leaders flagged the issues and demanded a discussion on it during the session.

"The prime minister did not discuss these issues in the meeting," Anand Sharma, deputy leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, told reporters.

Kumar said the prime minister renewed his pitch for holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies and asked political parties to reach a consensus on the issue.

Modi has been pushing for simultaneous polls, saying the almost uninterrupted cycle of polls across the country hampers government work due to the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct and deployment of officials in elections.

"He also sought their cooperation to make the session meaningful and constructive," Kumar added.