HYDERABAD, JANUARY 11 With the economy kicking, the sensex upbeat, the forex reserves full and the aspirations of the upwardly mobile Hindu middle-class for prosperity ignited more than ever before, the BJP has braced itself to cash in on the prevailing mood. Hindutva is passe, the party slogan from Hyderabad is: ‘‘Make India an economic superpower’’.

As the Prime Minister spoke for the first time on elections, the party national executive, meeting here today, outlined an eight-point road-map to turn the country into an economic superpower. Alongside, it asked the government to ensure that India’s exports reach one per cent of the global trade by September 1, 2007.

The resolution pointed out that ‘‘only 25 per cent of India’s GDP is contributed by India’s manufacturing sector. The share of manufacturing in the GDP has to expand.’’ The party suggested that all major airports of the country be expanded and upgraded, private investment be infused to upgrade seaports and railways be modernised.

Other highlights of the resolution:

• Power reforms should be expedited, while ensuring that power is supplied at competitive rates

• Private sector should be involved in coal mining to improve productivity and reduce cost

• India should become the ‘‘most favoured’’ global destination for business process outsourcing and all value-added activities ranging from planning to design and research and development

•For this, it called for a ‘‘transparent, time-bound accreditation process of institutions of higher education’’

With the middle-class squarely in mind, it called for the creation of mega cities, ‘‘cities of global standing’’, helped by a sheaf of urban sector reforms. This would include implementation of municipal laws, rationalisation and lowering of stamp duties, a modern transfer of property law, a rational rent law, complete scrapping of urban land ceiling laws and introduction of user charges for maintenance of sewers and other public utilities through public and private partnership.

The future challenge for agriculture, according to the BJP, was to improve productivity, concentrate on agro-processing activity and connect product of the Indian farmer to the global market. The growth, the resolution said, had to job-oriented.Though the BJP national executive had not yet ended the suspense over the timing of Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee gave the first indication of an early poll at a public meeting at the Parade Ground here today.

‘‘Now elections are about to be held’’, Vajpayee said. ‘‘In the elections, the language should be civilised and decent.’’

This observation came after the Prime Minister rebutted Sonia Gandhi’s criticism of the BJP promise to provide jobs to one crore people every year and push up the annual growth rate. Sources disclosed that the BJP national executive would ultimately express its readiness to face the Lok Sabha polls, but, like NDA constituents, would leave it to the Prime Minister to decide on their timing.

Party general secretary Pramod Mahajan had yesterday hinted at elections being held in March. However, the party tried to retract from such a clear position today. The leadership obviously still wished to do some more home-work before getting in to the care-taker mode. And even if an early election was the BJP’s choice, the Prime Minister would probably not wish to package it as such. Sources close to the Prime Minister insisted that no final decision had been taken on the timing of polls.

Another general secretary, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who was fielded today, explained in response to a volley of questions from the media today: ‘‘He (Mahajan) expressed his views and also placed them in perspective. He did not say anything (about the timing) firmly.’’