Besides Chief Minister Narayan Rane and Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, Sena leaders Udhav and Raj Thackeray and BJP functionaries Sharad Kulkarni and Anna Dange will also participate in the deliberations.

``Since the sharing of seats has already been decided, we will take stock of the political situation. We will also assess constituency wise status of the alliance. However, the actual selection of candidates of the alliance partners will begin from Monday,'' Rane said.

On the demand made by independents, Rane said contrary to initial reports, they are also in favour of simultaneous polls. ``The Ministers of State representing the independent legislators, called on me today and specifically stated that they have no objection to simultaneous polls,'' Rane added.

The Chief Minister said both Shiv Sena supremoBal Thackeray and BJP leader Pramod Mahajan have assured the independents will be considered favourably. ``They will have to choose between Shiv Sena and BJP. We are prepared to accommodate them,'' he pointed out.

As per the agreement between the alliance partners, Shiv Sena will contest 22 Lok Sabha and 171 assembly seats, while BJP will contest 26 Lok Sabha and 117 assembly seats.

``Though an agreement has been reached, there is a dispute on certain seats. In the event we are unable to settle it, we will have to face revolt in these areas,'' a senior BJP Minister said.

In view of the uncertainty at the Centre and the term of the alliance government coming to an end, both Shiv Sena and BJP had began an extensive exercise to choose the candidates for the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies in January and February itself. While the BJP held regional meetings to asses the political situation, the Shiv Sena had deployed its leaders in the entire state.

``Along with the performance of the electedrepresentatives of the Shiv Sena and BJP, we also gathered information on the performance of the alliance government in all the 48 Lok Sabha and 288 assembly constituencies,'' according to a Shiv Sena leader.

Sena's emphasis is on the attitude of the sitting MP or legislator and the possibility of his re-election. ``Barring a few constituencies, the response of the electorate was that the sitting candidates should not be changed. However, in certain constituencies, the local workers superficially stated that the party nominee should be replaced,'' the Shiv Sena leader revealed.

The Shiv Sena leader said besides former Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, the party is considering to field Law and Judiciary Minister Leeladhar Dake from Raigad, Forest Minister Chandrakant Khaire from Aurangabad and Minister for Rehabilitation Jaiprakash Mundhada from Parbhani. Housing Minister Sureshdada Jain is keen on contesting from Jalgaon, but since the seat has been earmarked for the BJP, the possibility of his contestingfrom that constituency has been ruled out. BJP has been contesting the seat since the formation of Maharashtra.