This is why JD(U) wants Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to be held together in Bihar

Both BJP and JD(U) could be gainers if both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls are held together in 2019.

 

Sujeet Jha
Patna, September 13, 2017 | UPDATED 22:50 IST
Nitish Kumar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been advocating for simultaneous holding of both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections for a long time. The JD(U), which has now tied up with the BJP in Bihar, has once again agreed with PM Modi on this subject.

State Janata Dal (United) president Bashistha Narain Singh has remarked that if both elections are held together in the state then their party is ready for it.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also been stressing for a long time that the two elections should be held together so that both money and resources can be saved. Nitish had raised this issue few years ago when both JD(U) and BJP were together and now his party has advocated for it again when they are in an alliance.

Assembly poll in Bihar will be due in 2020 while Lok Sabha election are to be held in 2019. If the two election are to be held simultaneously then the Assembly would have to be dissolved about a year-and-a-half before time.

RJD leader and Bihar's former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav has said the JD(U) is compelled to take this decision under pressure from BJP.

However, making other states besides Bihar go to poll in 2019 will not be an easy task for the Narendra Modi government. In 2019, some state governments will not have even finished two years of its five-year-long term.

In Bihar, both the BJP and JD(U) could be gainers in terms of seats if both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls are held together in 2019.

Another advantage that the NDA will have is the chance to silence RJD which has been complaining regularly that the JD(U) has insulted the verdict of the people by swapping its partner.

With 80 MLAs, RJD is now in the Opposition.

With clever seat-sharing techniques, the NDA can gain big in 2019. The simplest formula can be that the BJP fights maximum possible number of seats in the Lok Sabha while the JD(U) does the same in the Bihar Assembly.