Wednesday, January 4 2006 10:10 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Uncertainty prevails over the inclusion of several senior leaders including M Venkaiah Naidu and Kalyan Singh in the team of new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh, which is expected to be announced in the next few days.

While Naidu, a former President and Vice-President in L K Advani's team, has reportedly sought to be relieved of all formal responsibilities apparently as Singh is 'junior' to him, the new Chief's arch rival in his home turf Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh, who is also vice president, is understood to have expressed a desire to work in the state, party sources said.

Soon after taking charge as party Chief, Singh began the exercise of constituting his new team of office-bearers and national executive by holding consultations with senior leaders including Naidu, Bal Apte and Arun Jaitley yesterday.

He also held wide-ranging discussions with Advani and other leaders including Murli Manohar Joshi, Pramod Mahajan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today.

The BJP Chief is also likely to hold consultations with senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionaries including Suresh Soni in the coming days, the sources said.

Another senior leader Sushma Swaraj too is believed to have conveyed to the top brass her desire to continue as the party's Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha under Jaswant Singh, the sources said. It was also not clear whether Naqvi would continue as party Vice-President or would be given some other responsibility, they said.