Cabinet expansion put off, fight for berths on

New Delhi: The second swearing-in ceremony of the Manmohan Singh Cabinet, scheduled for Tuesday, has been put off.

Sources tell CNN-IBN that the Cabinet expansion will not take place on Tuesday due to last-minute wrangling over berths and ministries. They say the expansion is now likely to take place on Thursday.

Sources say the disagreement is over the portfolios for Congress leaders. They add that Congress President and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi wants a better balance of regions and caste in the new Cabinet.

There are too many contenders from the Congress for key portfolios. States like Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh where Congress did well want greater representation.

Many senior Congress leaders, including some former chief ministers who won the Lok Sabha elections, also want to be accommodated.

Sources say former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Vir Bhadra Singh and former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh want Cabinet ranks.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah is expecting a senior Cabinet berth while Karnataka leader of the Opposition Malikarjuna Kharge also wants a Cabinet berth.

Congress MP from Uttar Pradesh, Beni Prasad Verma also wants a Cabinet berth.

There is pressure on the Congress top brass to have greater Muslim, Dalit and women representation.

The expansion is unlikely to take place on Wednesday as it is former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's death anniversary.

Earlier, a meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sonia and senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel to finalise Cabinet expansion was postponed on Tuesday morning.

As many as 10 Cabinet and 40 Ministers of States are expected to be sworn in, in the second round of expansion.

The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) contingent is expected to be accommodated in the second round of expansion.

In all, seven DMK ministers are likely to be in the Union Government DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter but Kanimozhi is reported to have opted out.

Trinamool Congress is also likely to get seven MoS berths.

When the first round of swearing-in took place on Friday Manmohan Singh along with 19 Cabinet ministers took the oath of office and secrecy. Out of the 19, portfolios have been allocated to only six ministers.

Cabinet ministers Kapil Sibal, Kamal Nath, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Ambika Soni, CP Joshi and Ghulam Nabi Azad, who were sworn in on Friday, were to be allocated portfolios on Tuesday.

Kapil Sibal is likely to get either Human Resource Development or Commerce portfolio while Ambika Soni, the tourism minister in the previous government, could now be the new Health Minister. Kamal Nath may get Commerce and Company Affairs and Rajasthan Congress President CP Joshi will be the new Rural Development Minister.