Cabinet expansion: PM, Sonia hold fresh consultations

Ahead of the Cabinet expansion, PM Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi today held consultations to give finishing touches to the list of ministers.    

Around 50 ministers including Farooq Abdullah, Salman Khurshid and Mallikarjun Kharge are likely to be inducted in the second round of Cabinet expansion tomorrow.    

Congress sources said that fifty per cent of the names had been finalised last evening itself at the meeting of the Congress Core Committtee after which the party president held a three-hour-long meeting with the Prime Minister.     

The expansion exercise is expected to involve a dozen Cabinet ministers, around seven ministers of state with independent charge and 30 ministers of state.