Poll schedule likely to be announced this week

Election fever has gripped all the players of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission said it would announce a schedule of elections by the end of this week as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief M Venkaiah Naidu said the BJP parliamentary board would meet in Delhi on Monday to firm up its relations with allies and come to a broad consensus on seat-sharing in Lok Sabha elections.

"We will have a meeting at Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence where we will discuss the issue of seat sharing and other election-related issues involving our allies," the BJP chief said in Hyderabad.

Naidu said seat sharing talks with the party's new electoral ally, the AIADMK, were in progress.

BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan and Union Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley had been appointed hold seat-sharing talks with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh, he said.

The Akali Dal, meanwhile, announced four candidates for Lok Sabha elections. Former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced that former Punjab Finance Minister Kanwaljit Singh would contest from Patiala, Naresh Gujral, son of IK Gujral, from Jalandhar, Paramjit Kaur, daughter of former Union Education Minister Dhanna Singh Gulshan, from Bhatinda and former Minister Rattan Singh Ajnala from Tarn Taran.

Announcing this, Badal said all the four candidates were chosen after consultations with senior Akali leaders, including Gurcharan Singh Tohra. Prem Singh Chandumajra, a key supporter of Tohra, was said to be among the aspirants for the Patiala seat.

The Akali Dal had earlier re-nominated Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa from Sangrur Lok Sabha seat.

Badal said talks with the BJP were on for seat sharing for the remaining eight parliamentary constituencies in the state.

The Election Commission, meanwhile, said a four-phase poll was likely, to end in the first week of May.

A final decision would be taken after consultations with political parties on February 20 and discussions with Union Home Secretary Anil Baijal on February 19 on the deployment of paramilitary forces.