Patiala: Accusing the Congress of being desperate, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today (March 18, 2004) said the Congress was "struggling" to enter into alliances with other parties as it could not see others in power.

"Previously also the Congress entered into new alliances - three Prime Ministers came and later the party toppled them," he said at an election meeting this afternoon launching the campaign of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance nominee former Finance Minister Kanwaljit Singh, who would face Praneet Kaur, wife of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Addressing his first election meeting in the run-up to the election to the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab, Vajpayee said, "We feel that this is not the right path (as adopted by the Congress) when the whole world is watching India. People want India to progress as it has abundant resources."

Taking a dig at the Congress, the Prime Minister said, "That party (Congress) is entering into new alliances every day and the following day it breaks up."

"Those who used to criticise the exercise of forging alliances are today running barefoot to do so," he said, adding it is still not clear who would enter into alliance and with whom.

Attacking the Congress for "not accepting defeat", he said, "We never did wrong sitting in the Opposition for 40 long years. Our Congress friends are desperate without power and struggling like a fish without water."