Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said the concept of "One Nation, One Election" was a good idea but not practical for implementation in the coming general elections.

Nitish, who has been advocating simultaneous polls for state Assemblies and the Lok Sabha for quite some time, was responding to a query from journalists here on the letter written on the issue to the law commission by BJP president Amit Shah.

"The idea theoretically is good. But it is not possible at this stage," Nitish said, asserting that holding simultaneous polls for some 11 state Assemblies and the Lok Sabha would not be possible. It is a good idea but the time is not yet ripe for its implementation, the Bihar chief minister added.

The idea of "One Nation, One Election", of holding all elections at one go, has been a pet idea of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but realising it requires larger political consensus and a constitutional amendment.

The government and the BJP, sources said, want to make a "bold statement" to underline the party's commitment to simultaneous polls in "national interest" by clubbing the Lok Sabha elections with polls in 11 states.

The idea being discussed is to hold all these elections together in February next year, three months before the Lok Sabha elections are scheduled, the sources said, adding that it can be achieved without any constitutional amendment. Most of these 11 states are BJP-ruled and the government feels the chief ministers would be more than amenable to the idea.

The states in consideration are Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh. The primary aim behind clubbing the BJP-ruled Assemblies with the Lok Sabha is to counter anti-incumbency.

Nitish has spoken in favour of simultaneous polls a number of times in recent months, claiming that it would reduce the expenditure involved in holding elections and enable elected governments to focus better on development and governance.

Political observers pointed out that Nitish was only reasserting what he had said earlier. The JDU, in its national executive meeting on July 8, had favoured state funding of polls, stressing that it would provide a level playing field for smaller political parties. However, even during the meeting, Nitish had expressed doubts about simultaneous polls, stressing that several issues needed to be addressed, such as the issue of political instability in case a government fails to complete its term.

He had also questioned the Election Commission's resources in making preparations for people to vote for Assembly and parliamentary polls using different EVMs.

The two most prominent political forces of Bihar - JDU and RJD - hold divergent views on the issue. While the JDU has given the idea conditional support, the RJD has made it clear it would oppose it strongly along with other Opposition parties such as the Congress, NCP and the BSP. The RJD declared that the move will kill political diversity in a federal structure. It has dubbed the entire exercise "meaningless".