National polls to be held 'at the earliest': Vajpayee

"Now that the party has passed a resolution, I will ask (Finance Minister) Jaswant Singh to take a vote on account (interim budget) and go to elections at the earliest," Vajpayee told members of his nationalist BJP party in the southern city of Hyderabad.

After the resolution was passed, BJP party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi quoted Vajpayee as saying, "It would be good if elections are over by April."

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The party resolution, which called for the holding of elections ahead of the September 30 deadline, was debated by top leaders of Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and passed unanimously, party sources said.

Bouyed by wins in recent provincial polls, economic growth of over eight percent and peace moves with arch-rival Pakistan, the BJP has been mulling the idea of advancing the date of polls.

A BJP source said last week the party would urge the prime minister to dissolve parliament soon and hold polls as early as March.

Last week, partners of Vajpayee's BJP party in the BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) -- grouping around 20 legislative allies -- voted to give a free hand to the prime minister to decide the dates.

According to analysts, the BJP is within its limits seeking national polls months before September 30.

Armed with his party's go-ahead for early polls, Vajpayee will now convene a cabinet meeting to pass a resolution recommending the dissolution of the lower house of parliament, the BJP source said.

Parliament would then meet for a day or two to pass an interim budget. The president would then formally dissolve the house on the advice of the prime minister, the source said.

However, the decision on when and how to hold the polls rests with India's autonomous election commission, according to India's constitution.

The three-man panel, headed by Chief Election Commissioner James Michael Lyngdoh, held some preliminary meetings late last week to get the poll machinery into gear.

Subjects reviewed during the election panel's deliberations were security, mobilising staff for organising and monitoring the polls and a revision of electoral rolls.