India?s next general election should be held by the end of April, the prime minister said on Monday, as a booming economy and peace moves with nuclear-armed rival Pakistan tempted him to call early polls.

Election preparations will begin once the federal cabinet, led by Bharatiya Janata Party?s (BJP) Atal Behari Vajpayee, recommends dissolution of the 545-member lower house.

The independent election commission will set a date. The government?s five-year term ends in October.

?The prime minister said the entire process of elections must be completed by the end of April and the exact dates will be worked out...? BJP president Venkaiah Naidu quoted Vajpayee as telling the party?s national executive.

The BJP?S top decision-making body, which met to discuss election timing and strategy, had asked the government to call the vote as soon as possible.

Vajpayee also asked Finance Minister Jaswant Singh to seek an interim approval for spending from parliament ?at an early date? instead of presenting a full budget, usually done in late February, Naidu said.

?The party has decided in principle to make development the main plank for the election campaign,? Naidu told a news conference and added the BJP hoped to launch its campaign around January 23.

After launching a final bid for ?peace in his lifetime? in April, Vajpayee agreed with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last week that their countries would resume talks on a range of disputes, including Kashmir, the heart of half a century of war and hostility. Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani told the national executive the ruling coalition was in a strong position ahead of polls. ?Normally in elections, there is an anti-incumbency factor against the ruling party,? Advani said, referring to voters? traditional unhappiness against the party in power. ?But we can gain this time because there is a mood in favour of the incumbents,? a party spokesman quoted him as saying.

BJP leaders say they are keen to cash in on strong growth and bumper crops after the best monsoon in a decade ? a positive sentiment that could evaporate in the event of a bad June-September monsoon this year.

Three quarters of India?s billion people make their living from farming, and are almost entirely dependent on the monsoon. The economic boom has also been spurred by low interest rates, strong domestic demand and a soaring stock market.

Narayanan Madhavan