Former Surat zilla panchayat president Sahadev Chaudhary and noted trade union leader Mahendrabhai Dave, who joined the NCP, also claimed to have set up 15 district committees in Gujarat for those willing to join the party. The names of the party's district chiefs will be announced soon, Dave and Chaudhary told reporters.

The duo, who were appointed party convenors, also visited Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Kheda, Vadodara, Rajkot, Junagadh, Amerli, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar last week to hold discussions with ``inactive and side-lined Congress workers,'' who were willing join the NCP.

Claiming that many disgruntled Congress leaders were waiting to join the party once the committees were formally announced, the two leaders said the party would also field candidates in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Though the NCP viewed the BJP as ``enemy number one', the party would maintain equi-distance from both the Congress and the BJP, the duo asserted.