Bhubaneswar: The BJD on Wednesday told the Election Commission of India that the party favoured simultaneous Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly polls to save expenditure to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore. It also urged the poll panel to hold early polls.

Senior BJD leader and Puri MP Pinaki Mishra met the poll panel in Delhi and submitted its representation on the issue. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday said: "For the past two years, we have been demanding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assembly."

After meeting the Election Commissioner in New Delhi, Mishra said: "The concept of simultaneous election is not new to Odisha. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik broke the cycle of separate polls and consciously opted for simultaneous polls to the Assembly in 2004, though the elections were due in 2005, when the Lok Sabha elections were advanced by the then NDA government. That was the first simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state Assembly in Odisha after 1971, a gap of 35 years."

Mishra said: "Naveen took the decision to reduce the extra expenditure and also to avoid repeated model code of conduct being enforced in quick successions as it affected the government's development work."

In its representation, the BJD said when held separately the Centre funded the expenditure for Lok Sabha polls, while the state governments did it for Assembly elections.

"Any separate election to the state today could on a rough estimate cost Rs 1,000 crore to the state exchequer, and there fore to the people of Odisha. If the concurrent elections to Lok Sabha and state legislative Assembly is held then the expenditure is shared between central and respective state governments," the BJD has argued.

"Even if election is to the Lok Sabha, expenditure towards law and order maintenance is borne by respective governments," Mishra said.

Mishra said: "We requested the Commission that in the event any decision is taken by the central government to advance the Lok Sabha elections, arrangements should be made to hold elections to the Odisha Assembly elections simultaneously."

Reacting to Mishra's statement, BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya said: "The issue of Lok Sabha election has not yet been raised. Even the Odisha Assembly has not been dissolved. It's the prerogative of the Election Commission when it will hold the elections." He wondered the reasons behind the BJD approaching the Election Commission at this juncture.

Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, however, found that the BJD was toeing the BJP line by arguing in favour of simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

He said: "Whenever the BJP is in trouble, the BJD always extends a helping hand. "