Kulkarni told The Indian Express that the affidavit will declare that the letter purporting to show that the seven impugned legislators were admitted into the Congress Party under Kulkarni's signature, is, false, fabricated and forged.

Saying that he would personally call on Speaker Dattaji Nalawade on Monday, Kulkarni said: ``I will file an affidavit before Nalawade stating that the document submitted by Padwal is false and forged.''

The seven MLAs impugned by Padwal are: Rajendra Shingane, Ajit Ghorpade, Madan Pisal, Rajvardhan Kadambande, Mohan Gudadhe, K C Padvi and Deorao Radke.

Political observers aredivided over the course of action the Speaker is likely to take. Some opine that Nalawade need not take cognisance of Kulkarni's affidavit because he is not a member of the Assembly. Others say that, since Kulkarni is already an implied party in the case, Nalawade might have no option but to consider the affidavit before giving his ruling. Since, the case rests on whether the main document that "confirms" the "defection" of the seven Independent MLAs allegedly signed by Kulkarni, a reference to hand writing experts is not ruled out.

There is also another aspect to the legal status of the alleged admission of the impugned MLAs into the Congress fold. There is a prescribed form to be filled in by an aspiring applicant to join the Congress. At the end of the form is the usual receipt that has to be filled in and signed by the authorised functionary of the party which has to be detached and sent to the applicant confirming his/her admission into the party. Now the photocopies of the forms of applicationssubmitted by Padwal to the Speaker, it is understood, still have the receipts attached to the form - but these are are neither filled in or signed. They are blank. Had membership to the impugned MLAs been confirmed, party functionaries say that these receipts cannot be still part of the application forms since these need to be detached, filled in, signed and delivered to the applicants.

Even as the question of legality hangs fire, there is consternation in the Congress camp over the issue of how these forms reached the hands of Padwal. Kulkarni says that it is for MPCC president Prataprao Bhosale to probe into the controversy. However, a section of the senior Congress leaders remarked that it was a fall-out of the continued friction between the pro- and anti- Sharad Pawar camps within the party.

``Only senior Congress leaders have access to the application forms, which have been submitted by Padwal along with his petition. No doubt that Kulkarni has alleged that his signatures on the admission letterswere forged, but the fact remains that the application forms and the MPCC letter-heads are genuine,'' a senior party functionary said.

The game plan of the Congress, according to insiders is toppling the Sena-BJP Government in the State without appearing to have any role in it. The plan comes in the wake of the reported move of rebel Shiv Sena MLA and former State Cabinet Minister Ganesh Naik to forge a new party by splitting the Sena and roping in ambitious Independent MLAs. The seven impugned MLAs are said to belong to the pro-Pawar camp and hence the Sena concern to disqualify them should it come to the crunch in the hope that the latter could retain the advantage in the numbers game. But an eventuality that sees the fall of the coalition government would entrench Maratha strongman Pawar as a supreme strategist, which the anti-Pawar lobby within the Congress is loath to allow. It is against this background the leaking of the documents to Padwal assumes importance in the ongoing political scenario.

Asenior Congress Party functionary admitting to the state of affairs, said that while pro-Pawar Congress leaders were eager to welcome the independent legislators into the partyfold, the anti-Pawar camp was extremely unhappy over the possible fall-out which might throw the latter into political wilderness. ``In fact, when the proposal to admit them into the Congress was taken up with AICC President Sonia Gandhi, there was strong opposition to it,'' the party functionary added.

Meanwhile, Kulkarni said he would be briefing Bhosale on the on-going legal battle on Monday. ``Either he himself will take a decision on holding the probe or give necessary instructions to me,'' Kulkarni added.

However, the Shiv Sena too is keeping its fingers crossed. Said a senior Sena Minister, ``The Shiv Sena had received a major set back in 1993 when a record number of 23 party legislators under the leadership of Chhagan Bhujbal had defected into the Congress. Now, the Shiv Sena has taken a lead in stalling the entry of theindependent legislators into the Congress. For once the Congress is at the receiving end.'' Given the loss of credibility the coalition government has been facing on virtually all fronts, Padwal's moves have brought the smile back on Sena faces and there is optimism that the party would call the shots and set the agenda for the winter session of the State Legislature commencing at Nagpur from December 14.