Unexpected mergers and hard postures of allies have upset the plans of the party in different states, dampening the spirits of the cadres who are now looking towards the party high command to protect the party's interests from pressures from existing and new allies.

The party units have been directed to submit lists of probable candidates to the high command by August 1 for consideration by the Central election committee which is meeting on August 2 and 3.

The biggest problem has been created by the merger of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents, NDA convener George Fernandes' Samata Paty and Hegde's Lok Shakti, with the Janata Dal faction led by Sharad Yadav.

Both the parties havedeclared that that they would fight the coming polls under the banner and symbol of Janata Dal though the actual merger would take place only after the elections are held as the poll process has already begun.

The BJP has been caught unawares by the development. While Karnataka chief minister J H Patel had mooted the idea of the Dal aligning with BJP-led NDA which ultimately led to unification of the former Janata Dal breakaway groups Lok Shakti-Samata with the parent party, the Karnataka unit of the BJP was opposed to admitting Patel into the NDA fold right from the beginning.

The party unit was of the view that BJP-Lok Shakti combine stood good chances of sweeping both the Lok Sabha as well as the assembly polls as the Patel government's performance had estranged the electorate from the Dal. Any tie-up with Lok Shakti-Janata Dal combine, therefore would not only bea liability for the party but would also create problems in seat sharing both for Lok Sabha as well as assembly as the former would demand amajority of seats. State BJP has, therefore, started exerting pressure on the Central leadership to let it go alone.

The merger has also thrown the party's plans in Bihar, accounting for 54 seats, haywire. While the party welcomed entry of individuals like Ram Vilas Paswan who would have brought a considerable chunk of dalit votes along with him, it never desired the entry of Sharad Yadav and Janata Dal into the NDA keeping in view the problems it would pose.

The situation is also not comfortable in Uttar Pradesh where the party allies are demanding 35 to 40 seats while the party is not willing to concede more than eight seats to them out of 85. In Andhra also, the party has not been able to reach any agreement with TDP. TDP has ignored the ultimatum given by the state BJP.