Delhi MPs keep fingers crossed ahead of cabinet expansion

With Chandni Chowk MP Kapil Sibal already bagging a cabinet berth, the remaining six Congress MPs from Delhi are keeping their fingers crossed ahead of the expansion of the Manmohan Singh government likely tomorrow.

With Chandni Chowk MP Kapil Sibal already bagging a cabinet berth, the remaining six Congress MPs from Delhi are keeping their fingers crossed ahead of the expansion of the Manmohan Singh government likely on Tuesday.

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With the usual practice of accommodating two MPs from the national capital in the union council of ministers, one more Lok Sabha member from Delhi might make it to the government, sources in the party's Delhi unit indicated.

The names of Ajay Maken, who held the urban development portfolio as minister of state in the previous UPA government, and that of Sandeep Dikshit, son of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, are making the rounds.

Having emerged as a strong leader especially after the November Assembly polls and now the Lok Sabha elections in which Congress bagged all the seven seats, she is said to be pushing for her son, who retained the East Delhi seat by a margin of 2.41 lakh votes.

DPCC Chief J P Agarwal, who won from Northeast Delhi, is also said to be eyeing for a ministerial berth.

Agarwal has been trying to give credit for the party's stunning victory in Delhi to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and not to the chief minister apparently to queer Sandeep's pitch.

Sibal was among the first batch of 19 Cabinet ministers sworn in last week.