Mr Rahul Gandhi and Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi (pictured), is expected to take centre stage during the election campaign. -- PHOTO:REUTERS
NEW DELHI - INDIA is to hold general elections in early April, an election commission official told AFP on Thursday.
The world's largest democracy must go to the polls before May, the end of the five-year mandate of the Congress party-led government, and the official confirmed the vote would be 'in the first week or second week of April.'
'These dates are decided by the commission in consideration with the government,' said the official, who asked not to be named.
Mr Rahul Gandhi, the 38-year-old son of slain former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi, is expected to take centre stage during the election campaign.
The prime ministerial candidate of the main opposition and Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is Lal Krishna Advani, who is 81.
Congress managed a strong showing in state elections held late last year, winning in Delhi and the desert state of Rajasthan despite predictions it would suffer a voter backlash due to the Mumbai attacks and an economic slump. -- AFP
