A host of aspirants from the BJP and its allies, like Prem Singh Chandumajra (Akali Dal), Digvijay Singh (Samata), Madhukar Sirpotdar (Shiv Sena), Surendra Singh (Haryana Vikas Party), Jayaprada Nahata (TDP) figure in the 19 member group which will go to New York to represent India in three lots beginning this week.

Pressures are likely to increase on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee when he returns from his visit abroad on Thursday morning. Though he had promised an expansion soon, he is not likely to invite trouble so close to crucial elections in four states. A Cabinet expansion is more likely to unsettle the political situation than settle it because it will annoy many more of those left out than satisfy the number of those taken in.

Besides the three members from the Congress -Sharad Pawar, Pranab Mukherjee, and Bhuvnesh Chaturvedi - the only other Opposition member who has been included is Salim Sherwani, former Minister of State for External Affairs. Sherwani is a member of Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party but it is no secret that he has distanced himself from the SP chief and for some time now has been looking for other options. There is no one in the delegation from either the Janata Dal, RJD or the Left parties.

The others in the delegation comprise K R Malkani, Dina Nath Mishra and Jhabar Chand Gehlot (all BJP); Mamata Bannerji (Trinamool Congress); Kailash Devi (Haryana Lok Dal); Bhatruhari Mahtab (Biju Janata Dal); K Bwismathiari (Independent); Ajay Sarnaik (Lok Shakti) and R Margabandhu (AIDMK).

The only non-MP in the group is Aslam Sher Khan, who left the Congress to join the BJP at the time of the last general elections, and who was getting increasingly restive, not being given what he had hoped for. His inclusion is also calculated to placate those who hadjoined the BJP along with him particularly with Abrar Ahmed returning back to the Congress-fold. Normally the delegation to the UNGA is made-up of MPs.

Surendra Singh, who also happens to be Bansi Lal's son, had to be left out when Vajpayee formed his ministry because of HLD leader Om Prakash Chautala's decision to support the Vajpayee government which had to scrounge around for numbers to get a majority. He had been promised a Cabinet berth in the next reshuffle.

The exclusion last time of Prem Singh Chandumajra, a protege of Akali Dal leader G S Tohra, put the mentor on the warpath, particularly as Parkash Singh Badal's son, Sukhbir Singh, was given the Industry portfolio as Minister of State. Tohra is the one who first spoke against the use of Article 356 and it is he who first mounted the pressure against formation of Uttaranchal, forcing the party to fall in line.

The other political feature of the Indian delegation this time is the choice of the Congress leaders, and the exclusion of Natwar Singh,who heads the Congress party's foreign affairs cell. The Congress delegation will be called to defend the country position in New York and Natwar Singh had taken an aggressive stance against the BJP's line after the nuclear explosions.

Though party chief Sonia Gandhi was asked for the names on behalf of the Congress, none of the three chosen are considered hard-core loyalists of 10, Janpath. Gandhi has obviously tried to send a message that she wants to take all along every section of the party. Pawar was seen to have been sidelined by the appointment Prataprao Bhosale as the PCC chief in Maharashtra, Bhuvnesh Chaturvedi, who was MoS in the Prime Minister's Office of Narasimha Rao, is known for his proximity to him, even though he has represented India at the UNGA at least ten times in the last 15 years. Pranab Mukherji, who is a former foreign minister, is not as close to the Congress President as Manmohan Singh.