As the Lok Shakti and the Samata Party stepped up pressure to let the breakaway Janata Dal into the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the BJP said today the issue is expected to be resolved at the meeting of the ruling coalition on Saturday. ?All decisions on pending subjects will be taken at this meeting,? BJP spokesman Arun Jaitley told reporters today. Party vice-president Jana Krishnamurthy also expressed confidence that the ?problems would be sorted out amicably?. Despite the optimism, the NDA meeting is taking place against a backdrop of distrust and rancour. The latest evidence came late tonight when Ramakrishna Hegde?s Lok Shakti declared that the decision to unite with the Dal was irrevocable and the party was prepared to sever its links with the BJP if the group was not admitted into the alliance. Lok Shakti general secretary M.V. Sriganesh said in a statement his party?s commitment to strengthen the NDA under the leadership of A.B. Vajpayee could not be questioned. If the BJP leaders persisted with their demand to keep the Dal out of the alliance, the Lok Shakti would choose its own alternative, he added. With the Congress on the upswing in Karnataka, it was necessary to widen the vote base of the NDA by bringing anti-Congress forces together, he said. ?But if the BJP was so confident of its strength to contest elections independently and get majority without support from the Lok Shakti, we will not come in the way,? Sriganesh added. Samata chief George Fernandes has issued a veiled warning to BJP president Kushabhau Thakre on Tuesday that he could be forced to pull out of the NDA if the Janata Dal was not inducted into it. Fernandes reportedly stressed there was no question of delinking Karnataka and Bihar ? the BJP is willing to tie up with the Bihar unit of the Janata Dal but not the Karnataka unit, which it sees as a ?major liability?. The BJP refused to react to Fernandes? ultimatum officially. But sources described the threat as a ?pressure tactic?. Samata sources also said there was no question of their party parting ways with the BJP before the elections. At the most, Fernandes could quit as NDA convenor. The BJP leadership is upset at the way leaders like Thakre and L.K. Advani were ignored when Fernandes and Hegde announced their decision to merge with the Dal and include it in the NDA. The RSS also appears to have taken exception to the manoeuvres of Fernandes. An article in the latest issue of the RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, says: ?What has hurt the BJP most is that George Fernandes did not have the courtesy to consult the leading party in the alliance before taking this decision.? RSS dig at Vajpayee The Organiser article has also taken a dig at Vajpayee for being in the know of the Karnataka developments but keeping the BJP in the dark. ?The BJP has a proud record of debating and discussing such issues in party fora before arriving at a final decision. It is a tradition in this cadre-based party, known for internal democracy, that no single person, however big or popular he may be, violates these well-established norms.?