24 January 2004	Saturday	01 Zilhaj 1424

NEW DELHI, Jan 23: The Bharatiya Janata Party launched a re-election campaign centred on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Friday, cashing in on the anniversary of one of the nation's most revered freedom fighters.

At the same time, Mr Vajpayee launched a new pension scheme for poor workers, one of billions of dollars' worth of measures - labelled a "sop opera" by the media - announced in recent weeks as the world's largest democracy braces for an early election.

Although the poll has yet to be announced, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Atal Sandesh Abhiyan (Campaign to Spread Atal's Message) will see Mr Vajpayee and other leaders star in a blitz of 200 rallies by Feb 21, party officials said.

The campaign launch also coincides with the 107th anniversary of the birth of Subhas Chandra Bose, who led former British Indian army soldiers against the British in World War Two.

A Labour Ministry advertisement detailing the pension scheme in major newspapers on Friday praised Vajpayee's "dynamic leadership" and Bose's vision.The scheme provides a monthly pension of 500 rupees, just over $10, for people too poor to afford their own savings plan.

Along with a booming economy and a thaw in ties with Pakistan, Vajpayee's popularity - contrasted with the Italian birth of his main opposition rival - is emerging as a key campaign platform for the BJP.

Polls show the 79-year-old poet-politician is far more popular than Sonia Gandhi, widow of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who heads the dynastic and once unbeatable Congress party.

"For the (coalition)... Atal is tailor-made to take on the 'Italian' Sonia Gandhi," The Times of India said in an editorial. "It is the best and only way to ensure the debate doesn't veer off in the unsure direction of party achievements and so on."

Although the BJP-led alliance of almost 20 disparate parties is expected to retain power in the 545-seat parliament, Congress is stitching together its own coalition which could see it over the line.

Congress received a strong boost on Thursday when Gandhi's daughter, Priyanka, and son, Rahul, formally joined the party in what many analysts see as the first step towards contesting the election.

As grandchildren of the Iron Lady of Indian politics, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, and the great-grandchildren of the country's founding prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the pair, especially 32-year-old Priyanka, are strong electoral drawcards.

Some Congress officials have spoken openly of the possibility Priyanka would contest her grandmother's old seat in Uttar Pradesh. The government will present an interim budget on February 3 and soon after Vajpayee is expected to call an election for April or May.-Reuters