Nitish backs PM Modi; favours simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly election

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said he supports Prime Minister Narendra Modi's stand on holding simultaneous elections to Parliament and state assemblies.

"I favour and support in principle a synchronised two-phase Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the country," Nitish Kumar told the media here.

He said elections to Panchayats and urban local bodies should also be conducted along with the two-phase elections. "It will save unnecessary expenditure."

Bihar's next assembly polls are due in 2020.

The Janata Dal-United leader, who nearly two months ago dumped the Grand Alliance and joined hands with the BJP to form a new government, said it was unfair to put the people in election mode repeatedly.

Early this month, the JD(U) said it was ready for mid-term assembly polls along with the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

The last Bihar assembly polls were held in 2015.