HYDERABAD, Jan 12: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said on Monday parliamentary polls would be held "at the earliest" opportunity and hoped a new government would be in place by April.

Vajpayee told a meeting of senior leaders of his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the party and its coalition partners were ready for polls after BJP members backed a campaign to bring the vote forward.

"Now that the party has passed a resolution, I will ask (Finance Minister) Jaswant Singh to take a vote on account (interim budget) and go to elections at the earliest," Vajpayee told BJP members in the southern city of Hyderabad.

"The hour of deciding has come ... I hope a new government will be in place by April. A big battle lies ahead. The situation is in our favour," Vajpayee said.

The party resolution, which called for the holding of elections ahead of the September 30 deadline, was debated by top BJP leaders and passed unanimously, party sources said.

Bouyed by wins in recent provincial polls, economic growth of over eight percent and peace moves with Pakistan, the BJP has for weeks been mulling the idea of advancing the date of the polls.

"We have to win people's confidence with our performance. The opposition is in disarray. They do not know what to do and on what issues to corner us," Vajpayee said of the main opposition Congress party.

Last week, partners of Vajpayee's BJP party in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) - grouping around 20 legislative allies - voted to give a free hand to the prime minister to decide the dates.

Armed with his party's go-ahead for early polls, Vajpayee will now convene a cabinet meeting to pass a resolution recommending the dissolution of the lower house of parliament, a BJP source said.

Parliament would then meet for a day or two to pass an interim budget. The president would then formally dissolve the house on the advice of the prime minister, the source said.

However, the decision on when and how to hold the polls rests with India's autonomous election commission, according to India's constitution. The three-man panel, headed by Chief Election Commissioner James Michael Lyngdoh, held some preliminary meetings late last week to get the poll machinery into gear.

Some newspapers Monday featured advertisements calling people to get their names included in voters' lists, a clear indication that the commission was readying itself for the mammoth exercise.

According to the provisions of the Indian constitution, the next parliament has to meet within six months of its dissolution. Addressing party cadres Monday, Vajpayee said India was no longer an unknown entity in the world.

"The days of political instability are over and people have gained confidence that India's democracy will not be hurt by instability," he said.

Vajpayee's deputy, Lal Krishna Advani, urged BJP party workers to "formulate and implement policies which can mobilise all sections of people to fulfill the party's vision. The workers should also expose the alienation of opponents from the people."

Venkiah Naidu, president of the BJP, called on party activists to gear up for elections in the "right earnest." "We are confident the people of India will give one more opportunity for the party. It is going to be a battle between continued stability and return to the instability of Congress," Naidu told reporters.-AFP