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No mid-term polls, says BJP chief

Bharatiya Janata Party president Kushabhau Thakre allayed apprehensions that his party might opt for a mid-term poll following widespread support to the BJP-led government in the wake of the recent nuclear tests.

"There is no need for an early poll, the Vajpayee government will last its full term in office," Thakre told the media in Hyderabad on Saturday.

It was the Congress, he felt, that was craving for a mid term poll as it was out of power.

Asked if the BJP would forge an electoral alliance with the ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh for the assembly election due next year, Thakre said the TDP supported his party's government at the Centre. "We welcome it, and our friendship will grow," the BJP boss said.

However, in what appeared to be a statement contradictory to the previous one, Thakre said though the BJP headed the ruling coalition at the Centre, it did not mean that the party would not strive to gain strength on its own in future elections. "Coalitions do not stop us from going ahead in every sphere," he said.

Terming the Congress the BJP's "real enemy," Thakre said the BJP would accept support from any party prepared to defeat the Congress.

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