The Congress-Lok Dal tie-up is expected to benefit both parties in the Jat-dominated western UP, and the Congress is hoping for similar benefits in Rajasthan and Haryana too. Singh's party will fight the Baghpat, Bijnore, Ghaziabad, Saharanpur, Kairana, Mathura, Chandoli and Amroha seats. This is two lesser than the 10 seats Singh had originally sought.

Meanwhile, the Congress released the last seven names for the Madhya Pradesh Lok Sabha seats, among whom is former chief minister S.C. Shukla from Mahasamund. However, his brother V.C. Shukla has not been given a ticket this time, though some of his followers have been accommodated.

The others are Gopal Jatav (Morena), Chandra Mohan Nagori (Gwalior),Satyavrat Chaturvedi (Khajuraho), Rajendra Singh (Satna), Chandra Mohan Das (Jabalpur) and Mahesh Joshi (Indore). The party also received a shot in the arm when H.N. Bahuguna's daughter, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, joined the Congress after leaving the Samajwadi Party. She will fight from Allahabad, thus taking to 40 the number of seats in which the Congress has finalised its candidates or the people it will support from the Lok Dal.

The Congress demanded a CBI probe into the nature of the VHP and its affiliated organisations' activities which have been given Income Tax exemption.