The Shimla meeting put forward a 14-point policy plan

Ending a three-day meeting in the northern town of Shimla on Wednesday, party president Sonia Gandhi called for a secular alliance to throw out the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP immediately branded the alliance call as evidence of the Congress Party's "opportunism and desperation".

India's other opposition parties reacted cautiously to the move, saying they wanted more concrete proposals.

The BBC's Shakeel Akhtar, in Shimla for the meeting, said that without such proposals, Mrs Gandhi had fallen short of expectations on the issue.

Shift of power

Mrs Gandhi said: "Taking into account the present political scenario, Congress would be prepared to enter into appropriate coalition or alignment with secular parties on the basis of mutual understanding."

Congress dominated the government of India from independence in 1947 until 1996 and previously maintained its desire for single-party rule.

However, other parties formed workable coalitions in the 1990s and Congress has now been in opposition for seven years.

Prospective coalition partners may balk at Mrs Gandhi's leadership

Analysts say that Congress has realised it cannot oppose the BJP on its own and has reluctantly admitted coalition politics is inevitable.

But Congress is not new to alliance building.

It has formed coalition governments at state level, holding power in 16 of the 29 states.

One point of contention in any national alliance would be the candidacy of Sonia Gandhi for prime minister - a candidacy the meeting at Shimla endorsed.

Several regional parties oppose her because she is not Indian-born.

The Samajwadi Party has said in the past it would support Congress if Mrs Gandhi were not the prime ministerial candidate.

However, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) immediately ruled out any pre-election tie-up.

The Shimla meeting ended with a 14-point declaration, being seen as a draft manifesto for the next round of assembly elections.

It emphasised adopting a humane economic policy to help the poor while pursuing reforms.