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Arch rivals Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as well as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) Tuesday vied with each 
other to offer support to the victorious Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, which needs just nine more MPs to get the 272 figure needed to form government.
The Congress has, however, yet to make up its mind on taking support from these parties, which are its rivals in their respective states. The party is meeting its "pre-poll allies" Wednesday at 10, Janpath, the residence of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
"We have not made up our mind on the issue. We are meeting our pre-poll allies tomorrow. A decision will be taken only after that," sources in the Congress party said.
The SP and BSP, which fought elections against the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, said they have decided to pledge their support to the UPA to "strengthen secular forces" and to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out.
The RJD, which Monday said it would offer unconditional support to the UPA, is to hand over to President Patil a letter of support Tuesday eveing.
The UPA is short of merely nine MPs to reach the 272 half-way mark in the 543-member House. If SP (23), BSP (20), and JD-S, which has three seats, are added, the UPA will easily cross the 300 mark in the 15th Lok Sabha. The RJD has four seats.
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