Having already released the first list of candidates for 139 Lok Sabha seats out of the 370 that BJP is likely to contest in the forthcoming elections, party's central election committee (cec) is expected to decide candidates for the remaining seats at its meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. Details of seat-sharing in the major states of Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are expected to be announced tomorrow with Lok shakti leader Ramakrishna Hegde and Samata Party president George Fernandes having had talks with BJP president Khushabhau Thakre.

TMC candidates' list tomorrow

Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) will release its list of candidates for next month's Lok Sabha elections on Aug 11, party president G K Moopanar said in Chennai on Monday. He told reporters that TMC's seat-sharing parleys with allies were in the final stages and an agreement was likely to be reached on Tuesday. TMC, leader of the Third Front in Tamil Nadu, is likely to contest more than 20of the 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, they said. In a related development, Janata Dal (Secular) held another round of talks with TMC

EC rules out further review of poll dates

The Election Commission on Monday ruled out further review of dates for the coming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, and indicated that, for the first time, NCC cadets may be put on poll duty.

Senior BSP leaderjoins Cong Hazi Noor Ilahi, senior BSP leader from Uttar Pradesh, joined the Congress on Monday along with thousands of his supporters. Alimuddin Ansari and Lazzawati Kardam, BSP corporators of Meerut, also joined the Congress. Ilahi was president of the Meerut district unit of BSP and the party's candidate for the 1996 Lok Sabha elections.

Natwar Singh not to contest elections

Former Union minister and Congress member in the dissolved Lok Sabha K Natwar Singh will not contest the coming general elections. "I am not contesting the elections from Bharatpur (Rajasthan) constituency",he said.