Several democracies of the world, he said, had provisions for alternative governments without dissolution of the House, in case a government fell.Kicking off the party's election campaign here on Sunday, Vajpayee said that the country had faced five Lok Sabha elections in the last 10 years even though the term of the House was five years.

Not only does one Lok Sabha election cost the government Rs 1000 crore, political instability hinders development, but also affects national security and law and order situation, the Prime Minister said.Stressing the need for amending the anti-defection law also in this context, he said anyone shifting political parties after getting elected, should cease to be a member of the legislature.

Hitting out at the Opposition, he said, it had forcedmid-term elections on the country as its one-point programme was to topple his government without providing an alternative.

He said the Opposition had forgotten about principles and programmes, when it claimed that it would form the government within five minutes of the fall of his government. They "cheated" the country when they failed to form the alternative government, Vajpayee said.pCriticising the Congress, Vajpayee said the party and its president Sonia Gandhi were in such a great hurry that they submitted wrong figures of supporters to the President.

Recalling the circumstances in which his government fell, Vajpayee said it was a mistake to have taken Jayalalitha and her AIADMK in the alliance but admitted that without it government formation would not have been possible at that time.

"We had told the President that we do not have numbers. No other party was either ready for shouldering the responsibility. So we took it as a challenge thinking let us prove our worth as long as we can. And whentime came for us to go, we quit," Vajpayee said. Vajpayee dwelt on the achievements of his government including Pokharan tests and Kargil. "Perhaps, no other government has been so successful in one year so far," Vajpayee claimed.