West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's remarks suggesting that Lok Sabha elections could be held next year, at least a year before the scheduled time, evoked mixed reactions from Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
While Congress, leading the UPA coalition, insisted that the government will complete its full term, BJP said if "Mamata Banerjee can get this country free of this government early, it is even better".
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said, "She has hinted at 2013...we would want this Government to go in 2012 only because it is not in favour of this country for this government to stay even for a minute longer."
Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said he had not gone through the statement of the Trinamool Congress leader and it would not be proper on his part to make any comments.
"But one thing is very clear that UPA-II will complete its term and elections will be held at scheduled time," he said, adding that Mamata could be talking to her party workers to be ready to face any elections.
Hussain said the earlier the Government goes, it was better as the "economy is not right, the foreign policy is also not right, industrial growth rate has also come down and the FDI is not coming".
"This country has never been in a worse time than it is in Manmohan Singh's time. We hope UPA allies will bid it goodbye for the benefit of the country," he said.
On Friday, the Trinamool Congress supremo had claimed she has information that a political party in Delhi had held a meeting to advance the Lok Sabha poll to 2013 and asked her partymen to be ready for it.
