Jalandhar: Congress today (Feb 14, 2004) said it had finalised alliances with 16 national and regional parties for the coming Lok Sabha elections and talks were on with three other formations, including Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and one faction of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM).

"Talks regarding political alliance with BSP and one faction of JMM are on and these will be finalised well before the notification is issued for the Parliamentary election," All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson Ashwani Kumar told reporters.

He said tie-ups had already been finalised with 16 parties, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPM) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).

Asked whether Priyanka Vadhera and Rahul Gandhi would contest the polls, he merely said they would be the "star campaigners" for the party.

To a query whether all sitting MPs would be given tickets again, Kumar said only the winnability of the candidate would be the criteria for this.

He said the party would release three documents before the polls - its manifesto, its vision statement and resolution regarding empowerment of weaker sections of society.