April-May not appropriate for polls, election be held in Nov or Feb: Ram Vilas Paswan

Earlier in the day, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar also questioned the long drawn polling in intense heat conditions and suggested general election should be held in two or three phases either in February-March or October-November.

New Delhi:  BJP ally and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Sunday spoke against polling in April-May, saying extreme hot condition in the period is not appropriate for elections as he asked political parties to evolve consensus for polls to be held in either February or November. Earlier in the day, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar also questioned the long drawn polling in intense heat conditions and suggested general election should be held in two or three phases either in February-March or October-November. In his tweets, Paswan said people are nowadays more aware about voting but April-May is not an appropriate period for Lok Sabha or assembly polls as the period is extremely hot and results in a lower turnout. "After a new government is formed after the elections, leaders of all political parties should seriously consider holding the polls either in February or November. It will facilitate campaigning. People will cast votes in comfort, boosting the turnout. It will strengthen democracy," the Lok Janshakti Party leader said. In his comments, Kumar also disfavoured gap between voting days. He stressed on a constitutional provision for conduct of election at a more suitable time and said he will write a letter to his counterparts in other parties after completion of current election to reach a consensus over the issue. The seven-phase Lok Sabha election, which started on April 11, is ending Sunday. Campaigning has been especially exacting in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal as they have undergone polls in every phase.