The assurance was given by the President to a three-member delegation, comprising External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, DMK leader Murasoli Maran and MDMK leader Vaiko, which met him this morning, BJP spokesman Venkaiah Naidu said. Significantly, there was no reference to a change of leadership of the BJP-led alliance, he claimed.

The assurance provided a ray of hope, however thin it may be, to the outgoing alliance.

It hopes that fearing imminent dissolution of the Parliament, some Opposition MPs may step forward to support.

It was apparently as part of this exercise that Home Minister L K Advani called on former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar today.

The BJP is basically hoping that after Sonia's failure to muster supportof 272 MPs - as she promised to the President on Wednesday, the Third Front, too, will be unable to get the numbers and therefore leave the field open for the BJP and its allies.

However, some BJP leaders feel that unless the BJP and its allies add up to more than 269, the President will have no option but to dissolve the Parliament and go for mid-term polls.

Naidu also claimed that the President replied in the affirmative when asked whether BJP and its allies were also a part of his consultation process to explore the possibility of an alternative Government.

The delegation expressed concern over the time taken in reaching a new formation. It must not be an ``open-ended endurance,'' the delegation told the President, Naidu claimed.