BJD requests ECI to hold Simultaneous Elections in Odisha

ONI Bureau:   The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Wednesday told the Election Commission that it favoured holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly.

The party said simultaneous elections would help in saving over Rs 1,000 crore to the exchequer.

“On the behalf of the BJD, we request you that in the event any decision is taken by the central government to prepone the LS 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,” said BJD MP Pinaki Mishra in a letter submitted to the ECI.

He said the separate election would cost around Rs 1,000 crore to the state exchequer whereas the expenditure is shared by the Centre and the respective state government in case of simultaneous elections.

Early polls will help in avoiding a long spell of model code of conduct that affects development works of the state government, he told media persons.

Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha are due in April 2019. The ECI has been holding simultaneous elections in Odisha since 2004. (IANS)