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Meanwhile, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav and RLD president Ajit Singh today called up Paswan. They as well as BJP Rajya Sabha member Najma Heptullah had also called up Paswan two days back when a fire had broken out in his residence.

LJP secretary general Abdul Khaliq dismissed any possibility of his party switching over to NDA and downplayed the issue of NDA leaders calling up Paswan.

“They called up to inquire about the fire incident. No politics should be read into it,” he said.

Also, Paswan said that not only LJP, but even SP and RJD would jointly chalk out plans on forming a secular government.

To a question if he was still in UPA, Paswan said: “I am in UPA and also a Minister in the government.”

Asked if he would remain in UPA, he said there were two possibilities that could emerge.

“If UPA can get majority there will be no problem. The other scenario is the UPA does not get majority. In that situation, we three parties in the Fourth Front would jointly take a decision on the methodology of forming a secular government.”

The TDP was seen to have lost votes, with the CNN-IBN exit poll suggesting a steep drop of 7% in its vote share. The fledgling Praja Rajyam Party is seen to have dipped into the vote share of both Congress and TDP, particularly in the coastal areas. The sold backing of dalit and Muslim voters could be an important factor in keeping Congress afloat in the state. But projections for the state assembly point to a hung verdict.

Exit polls also show that J Jayalalitha’s AIADMK-led alliance is not sweeping the elections. The Star poll shows DMK and Congress winning 25 seats to AIADMK’s nine, the PMK-MDMK three and CPM two. Only India TV gave the AIADMK alliance winning 26 seats even though the channel also gave a lead to Congress in Andhra Pradesh. There was good news for BJP in Madhya Pradesh where exit polls pointed to a near-sweep.

According to exit poll pointers, BJP has been hurt by its poor performance in states like Punjab where its alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal is floundering. The party, however, seems poised to do well in states like Bihar where, in partnership with JD(U), it is likely to sweep RJD boss Lalu Prasad off centrestage. The party may well be poised to win as many as 30-odd of the 40 seats in the state.

BJP is also doing well in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand where it has improved its positions. The exit polls show BJP winning between 19-20 seats in Gujarat while Congress gets around 6-7 seats. In Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, projections show between 8-9 seats for BJP. In Assam, polls point to eight seats for BJP-AGP combine.

Orissa points to gains for Congress, up to 10 seats with BJP getting squeezed out in the 2-3 range with BJD getting around seven. The CNN-IBN poll showed Congress-led UDF on a comeback trail in Kerala with around 46% of the vote, up by 8%. According to the channel, in Maharashtra, Congress-NCP seem to have a vote share of 47% which comes at the cost of BJP-Shiv Sena.

According to the Star News-Nielsen exit poll, while there is not much to separate the two alliances, it points to SP and BSP getting 24 and 25 seats in UP. Congress is predicted to get 10 seats, BJP would get 16 and RLD four. This is quite a change from the political scene that prevailed in UP both in 2004 and in the 2006 assembly polls. In Maharashtra, the channel said BJP and Shiv Sena would get 26.

The three suspended personnel, officer-in-charge of Mawryngkneng police outpost, head constable and a constable, would be booked under Section 304 of the IPC for the custodial death of 17-year-old Sngewlem Kharsati earlier this week, the sources said.

Kharsati’s family alleges that he died after being brutally beaten in police custody.

Police had, however, denied the allegations and claimed that Kharsati succumbed to his injuries after some drivers beat him up when he was trying to extort money from trucks plying on the Shillong-Jowai National Highway on May 9.

The matter is being probed by the CID. The district administration has also ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.

The BSP alleged that the reports are being spread by the opposition parties with the sole objective to create confusion among the people.

“It is an effort to defame the party,” the release added. Some media reports have suggested that both the alliances have been trying to woo BSP chief Mayawati in order to get her support for the formation of government at the Centre.

The reports said that two senior BSP leaders Satish Chandra Misra and Naseemuddin Siddiqui were in New Delhi yesterday to keep an eye on the developments there.

The BSP chief, who expects her party to emerge as a major player in Uttar Pradesh, is eying the prime minister’s post as part of the Third Front.

But it is also being argued that neither Congress nor BJP may be in a position to form the government after results come out on Saturday. Given that third front partners — TDP among others — are bitter rivals of the Congress, they are not all that keen to see the party again lead the UPA at the Centre. At the same time, TDP, BJD and Mamata Banerjee have deep reservations about renewing any commitment with the BJP.

This has seen a view, being talked of in hushed tones, of a “secular” partner of NDA like Nitish Kumar being a PM nominee with the backing of third front partners like TDP who are sure to be uncomfortable with signs of the Left coming around to support a Congress-led government.

So, a non-BJP NDA leader gets the support of third front parties and heads a government as the saffron party on its own may not be able to rope in players like TDP, BJD or Mamata who don’t like to go along with Congress or Left but are also wary of BJP’s company.

A variation of the same play is BJP agreeing to support NCP boss Sharad Pawar to dislodge Congress. The ambitious Maratha is keen on taking the helm at the Centre and was close to an alliance with BJP for the 2004 polls. In Shiv Sena, he has a strong advocate within NDA, and can also muster support from BJD and TDP.

There are, however, serious deficiencies in the plot. BJP, determined as it is to strain every sinew to ensure L K Advani becomes the next PM, is hardly likely to go along. After all, a party which expects to win around 160 seats is not going to offer support to a partner who, luck favouring, may win just about 20 Lok Sabha seats or so.

Even within TDP, such an option will be seen as being quite out of the way as the party’s leader N Chandrababu Naidu may not be willing to go to such lengths to pursue a non-Congress government dispensation at the Centre. But on paper at least, the idea of BJP “sparing” Nitish Kumar for the top job seems alluring enough as it seems to absolve parties like TDP of some difficult choices which it is anticipating.

The problem is, pointed out those familiar with third front affairs, that the grouping is not likely to last very long. Unless Congress suffers a drastic drop in numbers — which seems highly unlikely — the third front looks to be a non-starter. The partners are expected to make a pitch for it when they meet in New Delhi on Saturday, but there is growing sense that the game might be over sooner than later.

With some maintaining that third front partners are actually waiting for an excuse to get out of the grouping, TDP is also keeping a close watch on how the Left is moving. Any clearer indications that Left may well facilitate a Congress-led government would be a signal for Chandrababu Naidu to chart his own course. He has stressed he will not go with BJP either, though there has been contact between him and emissaries from the saffron camp.

With both BJP and Congress unlikely to be props for any other “front”, the Nitish Kumar proposal may not go a long way. But given that politics can be stranger than fiction, surprises cannot be ruled out, all the more so in the era of coalitions.

Karunanidhi said the Congress has given a formula on ministerial allocation but he cannot give his views as an individual as the DMK’s executive will discuss and decide on the issue after which only the party would say something.

Manmohan Singh, who will be sworn in as Prime Minister this evening, is expected to keep the portfolios proposed for DMK with himself till a settlement is reached.

A meeting of the DMK executive has already been convened in Chennai today which will discuss the deadlock in the talks between the party and Congress on ministerial berth allocation.

Yesterday after several rounds of discussions in the last two days, the party announced that the Congress formula on ministerial allocation was not acceptable to it and the party would give only outside support.

There are various versions of what the DMK has demanded and what the Congress has agreed to give. Among them are that the party wanted cabinet berths for Karunanidhi’s son M K Azhagiri, daughter Kanimozhi and grand nephew Dayanadhi Maran besides T R Baalu and A Raja apart from ministers of state berths for some others.

Congress spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi had last night reacted that the DMK was asking for too much and they should be more reasonable.

Sources said the Prime Minister was said to be against inclusion of Baalu and Raja, a stand the DMK is said to be resisting.

Congress sources said that party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had discussions till early hours this morning and decided to renegotiate with DMK.

Gandhi and Singh also made calls to DMK chief M Karunanidhi late last night in their last ditch attempt to mollify the Dravidian leader.

During the meeting at PM’s residence, the Congress President took stock of the situation after DMK bargained hard for more berths in the Union council of ministers

The DMK is learnt to have demanded portfolios like shipping, surface transport, communications and environment.

Sonia and Singh discussed names from both Congress and its pre-poll allies for cabinet berths and allocation of portfolios to the council of ministers.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to be sworn in by President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhawan at 6.30 pm today.

Fears were strengthened when Murli Manohar Joshi, while attacking the leadership for being divorced from grassroots realities, offered himself as a replacement for Advani.

The former HRD minister has estranged equations with Advani. His claim is sure to be countered by those who feel that Sushma Swaraj, the lone woman in the top hierarchy, with her oratorial skills, could be a better substitute.

Interestingly, RSS leaders Bhaiyyaji Joshi and Madandas Devi, who met Advani over lunch on Sunday, are also learnt to have reasoned with him not to hang up his gloves immediately in order to ensure party unity.

The final decision is likely to be taken only after a meeting with BJP’s NDA allies, scheduled for Monday. The party also has to sort out the issue of who takes over from Jaswant Singh, elected to Lok Sabha from Darjeeling, as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

Former party chief M Venkaiah Naidu is seen as a strong contender but the issue is unlikely to be thrashed out easily. There are quite a few contenders for the post of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, including Jaswant Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Murli Manohar Joshi, Rajnath Singh and Yashwant Sinha. However, the main tussle is said to be between Joshi and Jaswant Singh.

If Advani decides to quit rightaway, Jaswant could be a serious contender as the 71-year-old was Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and has the stature required for the post. The only objection to him, according to a section of the party, could be from the RSS.

According to party sources, 75-year-old Joshi, who has already thrown in his hat, may not be the ideal replacement as he comes with a hardline Hindutva image and may not be acceptable by NDA. Swaraj is also seen as a serious contender for the post but she played down her chances on Sunday. Talking to reporters in Bhopal, she said, “It is a painful thought to replace Advani while he is around. There is no such proposal and I have not given consent for any such idea.”