NEW DELHI: The crisis looming large over the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of the BJP and allies appears to have almost blown over just hours before it meets here Saturday morning at the Prime Minister's residence to resolve the ticklish issue of accommodating a Janata Dal faction in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

"We are moving close to a solution and you would hear very soon an agreement that is satisfactory to all and specially to the BJP's Karnataka unit (opposing any truck with Chief Minister J S Patel)," BJP spokesman Sushma Swaraj announced at the daily Press briefing at the BJP headquarters.

The "formula" thrashed out after day-long hectic parleys but not yet accepted by all sides reportedly envisages to wait for the Election Commission decision on August 3 as to whether it recognises and allots the "wheel" symbol of the Janata Dal to the faction that wants to go with the NDA or not.

If the faction which is led by Janata Dal's original president Sharad Yadav wins the symbol, the BJP would have no problem if members of its allies -- Lokshakti and Samta Party - contest the election on the symbol, the BJP sources said. They, however, pointed out that the faction's failure to get the reserved "wheel" symbol would reduce them to be individuals and as such they were free to either contest on the symbols of Samta Party and Lok Shakti.

While Lok Shakti leader Ramakrishna Hegde called on BJP President Kushabhau Thakre and the Prime Minister, Samta Party leader George Fernandes had a meeting with Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani, who is the BJP's poll chief, to canvass for induction of the Janata Dal into the NDA. The Karnataka BJP leaders canvassed against the move by meeting Vajpayee as well as Thakre and Advani.

The "formula" that however ultimately emerged from the BJP showed that it has absolutely no problem if some individuals from the Janata Dal want to come over to the NDA or George and Hegde want their members to contest on the Janata Dal symbol, provided it remains with the faction on their side.

The Janata Dal, led by Sharad Yadav, would thus become a NDA partner but nobody from the Janata Dal would, however, be represented on the NDA's coordination committee until after the elections and all seat negotiations with it also would be only through the duo of George and Hegde, the BJP sources said.

GEORGE'S CONSENT: While the rival factions of the Janata Dal were busy addressing press conferences and holding parallel meetings in Delhi to prepare a case to be presented to the Election Commission on Tuesday for claiming the "wheel" symbol, hectic parleys at various levels throughout the day in the NDA on Friday ended with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee conveying the "formula" to Samta Party leader and Defence Minister George Fernandes over phone.

Vajpayee reportedly took George's consent and then invited Karnataka BJP Chief B S Yeduruappa and Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar to persuade them to put a stop to the campaign they were carrying on against any truck with the ruling Janata Dal in the state. Also present was BJP All-India Secretary Baswaraj Patil, hailing from Karnataka.

The "formula" was thrashed out by the BJP's trio of Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani (BJP poll chief and Home Minister) and Kushabhau Thakre (BJP President), wanting the controversy to die down forthwith as it was going contrary to the unity of all parties in the NDA shown by deciding to contest the election under one manifesto.

The controversy had errupted when Lokshakti leader and Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde initiated a move for "unification" of the splinter groups of the Janata Dal like his party and George's Samta Party with the Janata Dal and the BJP's Karnataka unit opposed the move pointing out that they cannot have any relationship with the Janata Dal that is led in the state by the "corrupt" chief minister.

KARNATAKA TANGLE UNRESOLVED: The Karnataka BJP leaders are believed to have expressed their reservations about the "formula" sounded to them by Vajpayee as they claimed it would resolve the all-India problem but not the problem in Karnataka which is having simultaneous Assembly elections alongwith the Lok Sabha mid-term poll.

The Karnataka Assembly elections is the real bone of contention as the state BJP leaders were looking forward to come to power with one of them becoming the chief minister, Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar being in the forefront in the race. Their grievance is that Hegde wants to overturn their apple cart by thrusting his protégé J S Patel on them on the eve of the elections.

Had Hegde wanted, Patel and a majority of Janata Dal MLAs would have defected to his Lokshakti last year itself after the Lok Sabha elections, but he deliberately let the Janata Dal Government continue in the state all these months to play his trump card now, the aggrieved Karnataka BJP leaders state. END.