Patna: The political rivalry between the JDU and the RJD will be on display when the two parties make their representation before the law commission on the issue of holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

While JDU will support the idea through its representation at the weekend meeting (Saturday and Sunday) convened by the law commission, the RJD will oppose the idea tooth and nail.

The law commission will hold a two-day consultation with major political parties on this issue to find a common ground on the issue which is being pushed by the central government. Speaking to The Telegraph over phone, JDU secretary general K.C. Tyagi said: "We have been supporting the idea since the beginning. The proposed system will reduce election cost and help small political parties, besides curbing the use of black money in elections."

Tyagi asked all regional parties to come forward and support the idea and maintained that efforts should be made to evolve a consensus on this issue given that constitutional amendment will be required to bring about this change.

Asked who will represent the party at the law commission meeting, Tyagi said no decision had been taken yet and party president Nitish Kumar will take a call once he reaches New Delhi to take part in JDU's national executive meeting.

The RJD, on the other hand, said the very idea would kill diversity in the country's federal structure. "This is a facade to bulldoze the will of the people in diverse contexts and localities," Rajya Sabha MP and RJD national spokesperson Manoj Jha said.

He claimed the Modi government was obsessed with the "one nation, one election" concept without providing any convincing rationale. "The same obsession has now travelled to the law commission and the desperation can only have political expediency and nothing else. A careful scrutiny of the reasons offered, such as expenditure, movement of security staff and impact on governance doesn't hold any ground seen through the data compiled over the years."

Jha said that the RJD would submit its stand to the law commission in writing in case it is unable to attend the meeting. Congress leaders from Bihar, however, refrained from speaking on the issue, claiming that the party's central leadership would speak on it. "We find this exercise meaningless," one of them said on the condition of anonymity.

The stand taken by RJD and the Congress seem to be somewhat on the lines of the anti-NDA camp, as several parties like the NCP, DMK and BSP have already expressed reservations on the issue and the CPM has already announced it will give the weekend meeting convened by the law commission a miss.