BJD MP Pinaki Misra on Wednesday met the Election Commission of India (ECI) in New Delhi and urged for early elections in Odisha.
In a letter submitted to the ECI, Misra said, “In the event any decision is taken by Central Government to pre-pone Lok Sabha elections before they are scheduled to be held in 2019, we would request you to make adequate preparations to hold elections to the Odisha Assembly simultaneously.”
Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting, Misra said while the Centre is planning to hold simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and 11 State Assemblies, Odisha must be included in the ‘one nation, one poll’ proposal.
He said separate elections would cost around Rs 1,000 crore to the State exchequer which a developing State like Odisha cannot afford whereas the expenditure is shared by the Centre and a State Government in case of simultaneous elections.
Misra further said early poll would help avoid a long spell of model code period that affects developmental works of the State Government.
The ECI assured that the party’s proposals would be considered favourably, said Misra.
Notably, Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha are due in April 2019. The ECI has been holding simultaneous elections in Odisha since 2004.