11 January 2004



HYDERABAD - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, expected to
announce early elections to capitalise on a booming economy, met
senior party officials on Sunday to discuss poll strategy.


Vajpayee is due to give some indication of his plans on Monday when
a two-day meeting of his Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) national
executive winds up.

The federal cabinet must formally decide to dissolve the 545-member
lower house before elections are called.

BJP officials have suggested a general election will be held in
April or May, about five months ahead of schedule. A final decision
on the dates rests with the independent Election Commission after
the cabinet formally seeks to dissolve the 545-member lower house,
the Lok Sabha.

The meeting of the BJP's 200-odd member executive comes as the Hindu
nationalist party rides high as it goes into the final months of its
five-year term.

It swept the rival Congress from power in three heartland states
last month, the economy is one of the fastest-growing in the world
and Vajpayee has overseen a thawing in ties with Pakistan two years
after the nuclear-armed rivals almost went to war.

"Our performance in the past five years speaks for itself," party
spokesman Pramod Mahajan said on Saturday.

Congress, led by Italian-born Sonia Gandhi and once an unbeatable
force in Indian politics, has moved to stitch up a coalition against
the BJP's Hindu nationalism, but has yet to form a large alliance or
make significant gains in opinion polls.

Vajpayee's government last week unveiled a string of populist
measures, including billions of dollars in tax cuts and cheap credit
for farmers.

BJP officials say the national executive, meeting in the southern
city of Hyderabad, will begin with a discussion of economic issues
before moving on to electoral strategy


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