Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday said the Congress party should remain out of power for a 'longer' period of time so that it could learn to behave as a responsible opposition.

He accused the party of lacking 'farsightedness' at an election meeting in West Delhi.

"Congress has not learnt to remain out of power," he said. Vajpayee said the Congress-ruled Delhi was still facing a number of problems such as scarcity of water, power, good roads and communication facilities.

"Even after remaining in power for five years, roads in Delhi are in a bad shape. I have been so many capitals but when I come back here, I feel sad," he said. Vajpayee added the minimum needs of the people were not being fulfilled.

Describing the violent incidents in Assam and Bihar, he said that job opportunities were limited and the number of aspirants was high. The government jobs would not solve the purpose and there was a need for generation of self-employment, he said.

Appealing to the people to elect a government, which understands its responsibility and goes hand-in-hand with the Centre to take Delhi on the path of prosperity and development, Vajpayee said there should not be any friction between the Centre and the states.

The Congress government in Delhi 'failed' to provide the basic minimum facilities to the people, he said. "It has always tried to serve its own interest and was not worried about the people," he charged.

Observing that there were so many non-Congress governments in the states, Vajpayee said no one had imagined how a non-Congress government at the Centre would last its full term. The Congress, he alleged, had always tried to destabilise such a government.