Monday, July 4 2005 19:30 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Shillong: BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) President L K Advani today (July 4, 2005) said that the Lok Sabha elections 'may come before expectation'.

"The next Lok Sabha elections may come much earlier than expected. Now-a-days no one knows when elections will come," Advani told a gathering in Shillong.

The Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government, he said, was not like the one headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee which lasted for six years creating confidence in the people's mind, particularly by making India a nuclear power.

The BJP president was here to pay respect to former Meghalaya Home Minister T H Rangad on his second death anniversary.

He said during the Swarnajayanti Yatra he undertook in 1997 he had pleaded with the people to give his party a chance to convert 'swarajya' (self-rule) into 'surajya' (good-rule). "And the very next year, people of India sent BJP to power," he said.

"Within two months of coming to power in 1998, the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) Government took an appropriate decision to conduct the nuclear test. Although many cautioned the party against the repercussions of such an exercise, the test actually showed the world that India had the capability of coming to the frontline. Indians living overseas felt proud as their stature increased," Advani said.