Prepare for mid-term polls, Advani tells BJP MPs

Leader of the Opposition and senior BJP leader L K Advani today asked the BJP MPs in both Houses to prepare for a mid-term poll. He was addressing a meeting of the BJP parliamentary party when he made these remarks.

"If someone had asked me a week ago whether I expected a mid-term poll, I would have said no, this government looks like it would complete a full term. But after last week's sequence of events, I would say that a mid-term poll is round the corner and the BJP as a party should start preparations over this," he said.

"As a first step, all MPs should undertake an assessment of their own constituencies and discuss it with their state in-charges," he said.

He added that looking at the coalition governments since 1971, it was clear that the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the most stable and a model when it came to how coalitions should be run.