Bhubaneswar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Pramod Mahajan today (Jan 28, 2004) said the ensuing Lok Sabha polls would be contested on three major issues with the focus being on the leadership of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"We believe the leadership provided by Vajpayee has enhanced India's prestige in the international arena as he stands head and shoulders above all other leaders," Mahajan told reporters in Bhubaneshwar.

Asserting that there was no need to replace such an outstanding leader, he said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government had also proved that it could also provide a stable Government. "That the stability plank is not a Congress monopoly we want to project as the second issue."

The third election plank would be the NDA Government's performance during its tenure and the progress the country had achieved during the period in different fields, Mahajan said.

He said the Lok Sabha was slated for dissolution on February 6 and it would then be for the Election Commission to decide on the poll dates.

"But we request the Election Commission that it should hold polls as soon as possible after the House is dissolved," he said.

Mahajan said three States - Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Orissa - would go to the polls along with the Lok Sabha and suggested that three others - Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra decide on simultaneous elections as they had less than a year's tenure.

"I say this because it will benefit the States as developmental works will not suffer," he said, adding it was, however, for the respective Chief Ministers to decide.

Replying to questions, Mahajan said the Biju Janata Dal (BJD)-BJP combine in Orissa, which had decided to contest the same number of seats as they had fought in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, would go to hustings on the strength of its performance during the last four years.

Asked if he was satisfied with the performance of the alliance in Orissa, he replied, "I am more than satisfied."

When a reporter said that most ruling alliance legislators were not keen on simultaneous Assembly elections, Mahajan quipped given the choice no MP or MLA will want the polls to be held.

"But we have not imposed polls on anybody," he said.

Replying to a question on the Congress also entering into alliance politics, he said that the party was "copying what we had done".

India's politics has been anti-Congress and the Congress has been left with leftovers as most prominent political outfits are with the NDA, the BJP leader said. "How can the Congress alliance be a powerful one?"

Asked, he denied that efforts were being made to rope in Asom Gana Parishad into the NDA.