Kolkata: Senior Congress leader and Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today (June 2004) indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should not be written off after its debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, citing the example of Indira Gandhi who led her party back to power in 1980 despite its drubbing three years earlier.

''Following her defeat in 1977, most people, including the media, had written her off. But she bounced back after three years leading the Congress to re-capture power,'' he said at a 'Meet the Press'.

Mukherjee, however, took a dig at BJP president Venkaiah Naidu, saying, ''The less he talks the better. He has even said that India's image in the international community was brighter during Vajpayee's tenure as Prime Minister than it was during Nehru's.''