BJD urges ECI to conduct simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Odisha
- Details
- Category: Election Commission
- Last Updated: Saturday, 08 September 2018 11:36
BJD urges ECI to conduct simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Odisha
Political Services Download latest voter list Booth wise
BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Wednesday informed the Election Commission of India (ECI) that the state government is ready to hold assembly elections along with the Lok Sabha elections if dates for the latter are advanced.
Amid speculations of Centre’s plan to advance the Lok Sabha poll, BJD MP and Supreme Court lawyer Pinaki Mishra met the ECI in New Delhi seeking simultaneous polls stating that it would save almost Rs 1000 crore from the exchequer.
“Any decision is taken by the Central government to prepone the Lok Sabha elections, before they are scheduled to be held in 2019, we would request you to make adequate preparations to hold elections to Odisha assembly simultaneously, so as to save the extra expenditure of almost Rs 1000 crore, which a state like Odisha can ill afford,” said Mishra in a memorandum, on behalf of the party, to the ECI.
BJD’s move is despite Union home minister Rajnath Singh recently ruled out the possibility of early Lok Sabha polls before schedule.
Briefing reporters here at his residence, BJD president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik said the party has been saying for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assembly for the past two years.
Elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies are conducted simultaneously in Odisha since 2004. Assembly polls in Odisha are scheduled in April-May 2019.
The Puri MP said a decision on simultaneous elections would also help to avoid repeated model code of conduct in quick succession that affects the development works of the government for benefit of the people of the state.
Stating that the concept of simultaneous elections is not new to Odisha, Mishra said chief minister Naveen Patnaik broke the cycle of separate polls and consciously opted for simultaneous polls to the state assembly in 2004, though the elections were due in 2005 when the Lok Sabha was preponed by the then NDA government.
“That was the first simultaneous elections to the state assembly and Lok Sabha after 1971, that means after a gap of 33 years,” the memorandum reads.
While the Centre bears entire expenditure on the conduct of Lok Sabha, expenses for election to the state assemblies are borne by the respective state governments, when elections are held separately. “If elections are held simultaneously, the expenditure is shared between the Centre and state government,” said Mishra.
The BJD pitches for simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assembly as the decision helps the party. Party insiders said the government is ready to dissolve the state assembly if Centre will prepone the Lok Sabha elections.
SOURCE: THE TIMES OF INDIA
