Pawar and his two colleagues P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar are taking no chances in affirming their loyalty to a pantheon of national leaders as the day-long convention gets under way. Mahatma Gandhi gets the first honour, then the freedom fighters of yore and the recent martyrs of Kargil will be remembered all at the historic August Kranti Maidan. Later in the day, the three leaders will pay their respects to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at Chaitya Bhoomi and follow it up with the expected homage to Chhatrapati Shivaji.

FilmstarJitendra is likely to be on the dais; he called to pledge his support. Other `stars' include former Assam chief minister Sarat Chandra Sinha and Kerala Health Minister Shanmugha Das. Nearly 1,000 delegates are expected from different states and across Maharashtra for the deliberations at Shanmukhananda Hall where the party's constitution and political resolution will be discussed.

Organisers like Chhagan Bhujbal, chairman of the reception committee, estimate a mammoth crowd of nearly five lakhs for the public meeting at Shivaji Park in the afternoon.

``Our information is that some 20,000 small and large vehicles are on their way to Mumbai for the rally'', said NCP spokesperson Vasant Chavan. They have sought the cooperation of the city police as well as the State administration so that delegates and supporters reaching and leaving venues are not stopped or harassed.

The NCP has notched up some Muslim support -- Maulana Obaidulla Azmi, chairman of the Haj Committee as also Maulana Hafiz Iqbal Rahmani ofthe Akhil Bharatiya Imam Sanghtana have called in with their support. Azmi will be on stage tomorrow while Rahmani met Pawar today with four other maulanas from different parts of the State. Key leaders of Uttar Pradesh peoples' organisations met Pawar yesterday.

Some Dalit support has come too but not exactly the kind Pawar would have wished. The Dalit Samata Parishad and Matang Vikas Parishad have pledged support with leaders like Madhu Kambli joining the NCP. However, leaders of standing like Ramdas Athawale, known to be close to Pawar, have so far kept their distance. As also leaders who create an impact like Ganesh Naik, rebel Shiv Sena leader, who has spoken to Pawar several times in the last month.

The NCP make-shift headquarters, A-10, which is Bhujbal's official bungalow, was excited about the influx from Himachal Pradesh and the BJP. Former State BJP president and Member of Parliament Ganga Singh joined the NCP today as did party leader Roshanlal Bali who, incidentally, chairs an organisationcalled Jyotish Shid Sansthan. But the prize catch -- almost -- was Madhu Deolekar who was earlier BJP vice-president in Maharashtra but rebelled to join Shanakarsinh Vaghela's Rashtriya Janata Party. That Deolekar and four others from the RJP will attend the convention as special invitees is an indication of Vaghela's interest in the NCP, leaders said.

Entry passes for the convention have been given out in excess of the 2,900 seating capacity at Shanmukhananda Hall; still, there are calls from district leaders requesting more. As A-10 became the archetypal picture of chaos and high-level excitement that precedes an important event, the leader trio -- Pawar, Sangma, Anwar -- were closeted in various meetings during the day with the sole aim of making the convention as historic as their exit from the Congress.