Ahead of the coming elections to Lok Sabha and for assemblies, the Election Commission has convened a meeting of all recognised national and state parties on Monday to discuss various issues including the fidelity of electoral rolls and gender representation in political parties.

The process for receiving claims and objections from the public, including 40 lakh ineligible people who were not included in the complete draft NRC, would begin from Aug 30, as the Supreme Court on Thursday sought views of AASU, AAMSU and Jamiat-Ulama-E-Hind on the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) prepared by the the Centre.

The process for receiving claims and objections from the public, including 40 lakh ineligible people who were not included in the complete draft NRC, would begin from Aug 30, as the Supreme Court on Thursday sought views of AASU, AAMSU and Jamiat-Ulama-E-Hind on the Standard Operating Procedure prepared by the Centre.

There is a feeling among the opposition parties that the primary task is to defeat the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and that the issue of prime ministership will be decided after the results based on the performance of each party, top Congress sources said here, asserting that a "strategic understanding" had been reached with the SP and BSP and the Congress on fighting the polls together in Uttar Pradesh.