As his party described the UPA-Left truce on the nuclear deal as “a commercial break”, BJP leader L K Advani said there was a strong possibility of snap polls taking place in the first half of next year.

Sharing a dais in Patna with Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, Advani said the UPA had failed to run a coalition Government, unlike the NDA. “On economic and foreign policies, the Congress and the Left have no common ground,” said Advani, who was in the city to attend the 85th birthday of BJP leader Kailashpati Mishra.

Nitish used the occasion to attack RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. “He is going across Bihar with a train full of plaques to lay foundation stones. I challenge him to fight it out in the people’s court,” he said.

In New Delhi, BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the “truce” between the UPA and Left was “nothing but a commercial break, and the break is intended to fulfil the commercial interest of both parties at the cost of the country.”