BJD for early assembly polls in Orissa

Early assembly elections in Orissa has become a distinct possibility with ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) deciding recently in favour of simultaneous assembly election along with the Lok Sabha polls.

The party has authorised its president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik to hold talks with coalition partner BJP in this regard. The decision was taken at a meeting of senior leaders of BJD, including several ministers and party's frontal wing chiefs, at the residence of Patnaik.

In the normal course, the term of the present assembly is scheduled to expire in March next year.

Addressing newsmen after the meeting, Patnaik said, the party leaders decided to pre-pone the assembly elections and hold it along with the Lok Sabha polls mainly for two reasons.

First, two separate elections will result in a huge burden on the exchequer. Secondly, imposition of code of conduct twice for two elections within a span of one year will hamper implementation of various developmental works in the state.

"For the above facts, the party leaders were unanimously in favour of simultaneous polls in the state", Patnaik said.

Meanwhile, BJD's coalition partner BJP has called a meeting of its state unit party functionaries on Sunday to decide on holding of simultaneous polls.

BJD general secretary Damodar Rout said, if BJP agrees on holding of early assembly polls, then the session of the assembly will be convened and a vote on account will be passed before recommending dissolution of the house.

According to state chief electoral officer Livinus Kindo, the issue of holding assembly elections should be decided before January 31 as his office will require minimum of three months to prepare for simultaneous polls. He said, the state election office has already started preparations for the Lok Sabha elections.