December 28, 2003	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 4, 1424

MUMBAI, Dec 27: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi called on Saturday for alliances against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as she rallied her supporters for elections expected to be called next year.

In her first rally in India’s largest city since 1999, the Congress party leader said she was looking for allies in Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, and elsewhere.

“The party is seeking alliances with other parties in Maharashtra and other states, the kind of alliances that uplift the common people,” Sonia Gandhi told thousands of supporters bussed in for the rally.

Elections are not due until October, but the BJP has hinted it will call the polls ahead of schedule after sweeping Congress out of power in three states during Dec 1 polls. —AFP