"Badal has made the offer to Vajpayee," Kalia told reporters but did not say if any particular constituency of the 13 in the State had been identified for the purpose.

Both Akali Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sources in the State said if the Prime Minister chose to contest from Punjab, it would improve chances of SAD-BJP combine candidates in other constituencies.

Badal had offered the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat to former prime minister I K Gujral in the 1998 Lok Sabha polls. Gujral had won with the backing of the Akali Dal and reluctant support of the BJP.

The possibility of Gujral contesting from the seat again was ruled out since the BJP accused him of failing to return "the compliment" as he had voted against the Vajpayee Government that had lost theconfidence motion by a single vote in April.

The SAD-BJP combine candidates or those supported by it had won all 13 seats in the State besides the lone seat of Chandigarh in 1998.

Meanwhile, Badal, who is also Akali Dal president, said that the mode of selection of Akal Takht jathedar may be reviewed shortly, but dismissed criticism by ousted Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) chief G S Tohra on the issue as "baseless and motivated".

The Chief Minister also said action against the 12 Akali Dal MLAs, who participated in the Akali convention at Alamgir on May 30 where Tohra-led Akali Dal was formed, would be taken after deliberations among top party leaders.

"The mode of selection and appointment of jathedars of Akal Takht and other Sikh Takhts may be reconsidered after consultations with religious leaders and Sikh scholars," Badal told reporters here on Wednesday when asked about criticism in certain sections of the current system under which the SGPC selects the jathedars.

"Tohra, who isnow criticising the appointments of jathedars, should have brought about such reforms during his 25-years at the helm of SGPC," Badal said adding the expelled Akali Dal leader, who has formed his own breakaway faction, was criticising the appointment of new Akal Takht jathedar to serve his own "vested interests".

The ruling Akali Dal has an overwhelming majority in the 170 strong general house of SGPC and its 15-member executive which appoints the jathedars.

Rejecting the sacking of Ranjit Singh from the office of Akal Takht jathedar, Tohra had said that the jathedars were selected in such a way that they remain "subservient" to the SGPC.

On the issue of taking action against Akali leaders who have joined the Tohra faction, Badal said "such action against rebel legislators and other leaders may come after the June 15 convention of delegates of the party which would also decide which is the real Akali Dal".

Earlier, Tohra had claimed that his faction was the real Akali Dal.

On seat adjustment betweenAkali Dal and the BJP in Punjab for the coming Lok Sabha elections, he said, it was "hardly an issue" as it was "all within the family".

"Our alliance with the BJP is not merely for power or politics or seats. It is a far deeper relationship which is a guarantee for peace in the State and overall prosperity," Badal said.

He said the main issue in the Lok Sabha polls would be "whether people wanted an experienced and proven leader like Vajpayee or a new-comer, inexperienced foreign-born Sonia Gandhi".

"If Vajpayee comes to power, we have much hopes on him and Punjab may benefit a lot but if Sonia comes to power, I will probably be jailed," Badal said, adding he has spent 18 years in jail during Congress governments in the State.