Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, expected to call early elections soon to capitalise on a booming economy, has met senior party officials to discuss poll strategy.

Vajpayee was due to address a rally later yesterday, where he could give an indication of his plans, but party officials have already said they expected the world?s largest democracy to go to the polls in April or May, about five months earlier.

Vajpayee attended the opening day of a two-day meeting of his Bharatiya Janata Party?s (BJP) national executive which was to discuss election timing and tactics.

?Obviously, we are going (to the polls) as the ruling party. We are proud of our performance, we are proud of our leadership?, Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters.

The federal cabinet must decide to seek the dissolution of the 545-member lower house before elections are called, but the actual dates are then set by the independent election commission.

One senior BJP official suggested the election could be as early as the end of March.

The meeting of the BJP?s 200-odd member executive in the southern city of Hyderabad comes as the Hindu nationalist party rides high going into the final months of its five-year term.

It swept the rival Congress from power in three heartland states last month, the economy is one of the fastest-growing in the world and Vajpayee has overseen a thaw in ties with Pakistan two years after the nuclear-armed rivals almost went to war.

Congress, led by Italian-born Sonia Gandhi and once an unbeatable force in Indian politics, has moved to stitch up a coalition against the BJP?s Hindu nationalism, but has yet to form a large alliance or make significant gains in opinion polls.

Vajpayee?s government last week unveiled a string of populist measures, including billions of dollars in tax cuts and cheap credit for farmers.