BHUBANESWAR:AS speculation of early general elections is gaining strength, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Wednesday approached the Election Commission with its demand for holding simultaneous election to the Lok Sabha and the Odisha Assembly.
The BJD, which has been supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘one nation one poll’ idea, submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission of India (ECI) requesting for holding election to Odisha Assembly along with Lok Sabha in case the Centre prepones the poll. BJD MP Pinaki Mishra met the ECI and submitted the memorandum of his party.
“In the event of any decision taken by the Central Government to prepone the Lok Sabha elections, before they are scheduled be held in 2019, we request you to make adequate preparations to hold elections to Odisha Assembly simultaneously,” the memorandum said.
Expenditure incurred on items of common concern to the Central and the State governments is shared on 50:50 basis irrespective of whether such expenditure is made for election to the LS or State legislatures.
Even if election is held for Lok Sabha, expenditure towards law and order maintenance is borne by respective State governments, Mishra said.
According to a conservative estimate, a separate election to the State Assembly will cost around `1,000 crore to the State exchequer which an upcoming State like Odisha can ill afford, the BJD leader said.
Noting that the concept of simultaneous elections is not new to Odisha, Mishra said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, a strong votary of ‘one nation one poll’, broke the cycle of separate elections and consciously opted for simultaneous polls to the Odisha Assembly in 2004, after a gap of 33 years. The only time Odisha Assembly went to polls along with Lok Sabha was in 1971.
Election to Odisha Assembly and Lok Sabha is due in April-May next year.BJD president Naveen was the first leader of a regional party to support the Prime Minister’s proposal for simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. Mishra had represented the BJD at the meeting convened by the Law Commission to take views of all political parties on the contentious issue.