He urged his saffron constituents to understand the concept of coalition politics better. Vajpayee also warned that the government may be forced to take some hard decisions as the economic situation was ``worrisome''. Since the Union Budget is under preparation, this is being interpreted as a hint that tough measures could be in the offing.

``Coalition governments have their own limitations,'' he said, addressing party workers at a function at the BJP headquarters here to celebrate the party's 18th foundation day. ``The responsibility for the coalition government rests as much with our allies as with the BJP and its workers,'' he said.

The BJP's adversaries were trying to destabilise the government, the PM cautioned, but their efforts would not succeed. ``Thegovernment will be stable and will last five years,'' he declared. He justified coalitions, saying that his government was not static but had ``dynamic stability''.Meanwhile, BJP workers had a special responsibility, he said. ``It is the workers' duty to see that the government runs well. If it strays from its direction, it is natural that workers will be unhappy. The question is how they should express themselves. It is here that the ruling party's maryada (restraint) comes in. We have been in the Opposition so long that sometimes we forget that we are in power now.'' He added, ``We have to go through agni pariksha (trial by fire).''

The objective of the BJP and its allies was to have a strong, invincible India without bhay (fear), bhookh (hunger) and bhrashtachar (corruption); for this, they had framed a national agenda of maximum consensus rather than a common minimum programme, he said.

Earlier, BJP President and Home Minister L K Advani said that idealism was necessary for good governance. Headministered a pledge to party workers. The pledge, taken by party members all over the country today, states that the government is not only a means to bring about a change in the power structure but should also become the means to ``bring about a change in the social order''. Workers also pledged not to bring a bad name to the government through their conduct and behaviour.

Party vice-president Jana Krishnamurthy presided over the meeting. Prominent among those present were Union ministers Madan Lal Khurana, Sushma Swaraj and Sikandar Bakht, besides BJP vice-president K L Sharma and Delhi unit president Kedarnath Sahni.