Tuesday, August 30 2005 14:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Claiming that the Congress-led coalition at the Centre was becoming "increasingly unstable", former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today (August 30, 2005) asked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs to be prepared for mid-term polls and remain in constant touch with their constituents.

"Whenever the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government faces instability, they start talking of early polls which further complicates the situation and they stop talking about it. Whether mid-term elections are held or not, we should remain prepared and remain in constant touch with the people", BJP Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha V K Malhotra quoted Vajpayee as saying.

The former Prime Minister was addressing the last Parliamentary party meeting of the Monsoon session here this morning.

Expressing happiness over the Opposition's performance in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, he said they should take the message to the people at large.

Addressing the party MPs, Leader of Opposition and BJP President L K Advani termed UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's charge that the Opposition changed its stand on the Women's Reservation Bill as "wrong, mischievous and baseless".

Advani said Gandhi was trying to blame the BJP for the UPA's "failure" to evolve a consensus on the Women's Reservation Bill with some of its allies even threatening to "physically prevent it".

The Leader of Opposition also expressed satisfaction over the "constructive role" of the Opposition in the Monsoon session and said they were successful in driving home their point.

With the proposal to enhance the number of seats appearing to be "impractical", the party felt that the Election Commission's suggestion that political parties distribute 33 per cent of tickets to women seemed more practical, Malhotra said.

The Parliamentary Party also decided to oppose any attempt on the Government's part to bring the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) (IMDT) through backdoor, hike petroleum prices and introduce Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail trade.

Maintaining that the Opposition had extended full cooperation to the Government in the current session, Malhotra said it helped the Government pass 7 Bills in one day.