Prime Minister I K Gujral plans to expand the council of ministers by inducting five women into it. The move is designed to reaffirm his commitment to giving adequate representation to women in government.
Senior United Front leaders say Gujral, after inducting the women, intends to go in for another expansion of the council of ministers. The first expansion should have taken place by now, but was perhaps put off owing to internal squabbles in Janata Dal, says a senior UF leader.
Women MPs who are likely to make it to the council of ministers include Kamala Sinha of Janata Dal, Renuka Chaudhary of Telugu Desam, Jayanti Natarajan of Tamil Maanila Congress