New Delhi, Aug 11: BJP apppears to be still tentative on the issue of synchronising Lok Sabha elections with those for state assemblies in the near future though party president M Venkaiah Naidu asserted today that simultaneous polls were "possible and feasible".
"Synchronised polls are possible, feasible and in the larger interests of the country," Naidu told reporters here.
Hinting that the proposal, mooted by Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and since advocated by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, could be implemented from the coming Lok Sabha polls itself, Naidu said, "the tenure of the Assembly cannot be extended, nor can the the Lok Sabha polls be postponed. The only way could be to prepone the polls."
He, however, said the issue has not be discussed formally within the party though some of the NDA allies have been sounded on the issue informally.
Interestingly, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his address at a public rally in Jaipur yesterday had said the tempo built up now would help in the Lok Sabha elections "two and a half years" later. BJP additional spokesman Prakash Javadekar later said it was a "slip of tongue" and what he meant was "one-and-a-half-years ie next November when polls are due."

While Javadekar in an informal chat with reporters today said the party was looking at the 2009 general elections for synchronised polls, Naidu maintained it was possible even in the coming elections if there was a consensus. He conceded that holding elections to all state assemblies together may not be possible and it would be a gradual process.
Bureau Report