``The decision on Uttaranchal is going to be taken in mid-November. Why are they (Akali Dal) setting a deadline now? They are just using Udham Singh Nagar as a prop to pressurise our leaders for more seats in the Delhi and Rajasthan assembly elections,'' a state BJP unit office-bearer said.

Already under flak from various quarters over the Delhi Government's poor performance, the ``undue pressure'' from the Akali Dal is being seen by the local leaders as an additional headache. The uncertainty over the nomination of candidates, who are expected to be named on November 3, is not making the situation any better.

The usually tight-lipped BJP state leaders are, in fact, now openly criticising their crucial ally at the Centre without much qualms. Just stopping short of calling the Akali act a blackmail, a BJP state leader said, ``They are refusing to understand that the composition of the Delhi population has changed in the past few years. There is not a single constituency that has 20 per cent Sikh population. We will have to face a mixed electorate where the Akali card is unlikely to work, and may just boomerang.'' The party high command's clear signal regarding a minimum of 42 per cent new faces being nominated in the coming elections has also contributed to dissatisfaction among the older members, who are, to a great extent, using the Akali Dal issue to vent their feelings.

Mange Ram Garg, BJP state party chief, played safe by passing the buck to the central leadership. ``Since the Akali Dal is our ally at the Centre, it is for the central leadership to take a decision on seat sharing. But we will not give them more than two seats as we have to keep our own workers happy.''

A section of the state BJP is, however, also blaming the Khurana lobby for engineering the Akali Dal's demand to strengthen the Punjabi faction in Delhi.