By Zubair Ahmed BBC correspondent in Bombay

BJP leaders will discuss their election chances

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is meeting in Bombay (Mumbai), in what it is calling an 'introspection' meeting.

It plans to highlight the performance of the country's national ruling coalition which the party leads.

Senior party leaders, including Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his deputy, Lal Krishna Advani are expected to attend the four-day meeting, that begins on Tuesday.

When the National Democratic Alliance, led by the BJP, came to power four years ago it was not expected to complete its full term.

Strategy

As it reaches its final year in office, analysts say the credit for political stability goes, to a large extent, to the BJP, the coalition's leading partner.

Now, leading figures of the party are meeting in India's commercial capital Bombay to discuss the party's electoral strategy for the coming year.

The party may fight the election alone

Although Prime Minister Vajpayee is said to believe his government should run its full term, others would prefer an early election.

They want to take advantage of the country's steady economic growth, low inflation and burgeoning foreign exchange reserves.

However, analysts say the party will take a final decision on this after elections in four Indian states later this year.

If the party wins in three of the four states it is certain to bring national elections forward by at least six months.

The party is also likely to explore the possibility of fighting the election independently this time.

Some party leaders appear confident they can win enough seats to form a government without their current coalition partners.