India’s main opposition BJP party launched its election manifesto yesterday, positioning itself as the guardian of national security’ and appealing to its Hindu nationalist base.

With the start of polling just two weeks away, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised a slew of populist measures, including special loans to farmers and subsidised rice for those living below the poverty line.

"The most worrisome issue before us today is national security." said the party’s official ^candidate for prime minister, Lal Krishna Advani

"Good governance, development and security, these summarise our promises," said the 81 -year-old former home minister.

The BJP governed at the head of a coalition between 1998 and 2004 before being ousted by a Congress-led alliance in 2004 elections.

Slamming the Congress government's track record on terrorism as a "nightmare,’ the BJP manifesto highlighted recent attacks on Indian soil, including a series of bombings in New Delhi and November's militant assault on the financial capital Mumbai.

"Never before has India been seen so helpless in the face of terror," the manifesto said.

It also noted the threat posed by Indian Maoists operating in half of India's 28 states and vowed to fence off the border with neighbouring Bangladesh through which illegal migrants enter the country.

In a bid to lure farmers, whose support had boosted the Congress party win in 2004, the BJP promised loans at low interest rates and a complete waiver of existing loans.

It also pledged 35 kilograms (77 pounds) of rice per month at two rupees (three cents) a kilo to poor families and tax sops to the estimated 300 million-strong middle class if voted to power.

The manifesto release was timed to coincide with the birthday of the Hindu warrior god Ram -- a national holiday in India.