07 March 2004	Sunday	15 Muharram 1425

NEW DELHI, March 6: Sixty per cent of Indians believe Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, head of the Hindu nationalist alliance, merits a second term, according to a poll published Saturday, six weeks before elections open.

Sonia Gandhi, Italian-born leader of the main opposition Congress party, was seen as prime ministerial material by just 20 percent in the survey commissioned by The Times of India newspaper.

The survey, which polled 2,113 people in India's 10 biggest cities, said 57 percent favoured Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition over 27 percent for the secular Congress.

The BJP called general elections several months early to capitalise on a booming economy as well as peace moves with longtime foe Pakistan.

It has been running a high-profile media campaign under the slogan "India Shining" for the elections to be held in four phases from April 20 to May 10.

Saturday's survey was the latest in a series suggesting a strong win by the BJP-led coalition.-AFP