New Delhi/UNI/IBNS: The government on Saturday named Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad among members to the High Level Committee (HLC) to examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha, state assemblies, municipalities and panchayats.

The high-level panel will be headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind.

The other members of the panel are former 15th Finance Commission Chairman NK Singh, former Lok Sabha Secretary General Subhash C Kashyap, Senior advocate Harish Salve and former Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Sanjay Kothari.

The notification from the Ministry of Law and Justice said that the committee will start functioning immediately and 'make recommendations at the earliest.'

Minister of State (Independent charge) for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the meetings of the high level committee as special invitee.

Prime Minister Modi, a proponent of holding all elections simultaneously, had earlier called for "One Nation, One Election" that, he claims, would prevent the country from always being in the election mode which halts the "developmental works".

Modi, who is committed to the idea of 'One Nation, One Election', reiterated his wish for a discussion on the agenda in his first Independence Day speech after getting re-elected for the second term in 2019.

While BJP, a party which has expanded across India over the last few years in the Modi era, wants the country to plunge into the election mode once in five years, the Opposition argue the country's ruling party aim to steamroll the regional parties, which are perceived as weaker in mass and money as compared to the national outfits.