Sheila reshuffles her cabinet

In the first such exercise in her third term, Delhi Chief minister Sheila Dikshit will reshuffle her cabinet on Wednesday by dropping a minister and changing the portfolios of others.

In the first such exercise in her third term, Delhi Chief minister Sheila Dikshit will reshuffle her cabinet on Wednesday by dropping a minister and changing the portfolios of others.

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Highly placed sources said Social Welfare minister Mangat Ram Singhal will be dropped while MLA Ramakant Goswami, a Dikshit loyalist, will be inducted into the cabinet.

The swearing in ceremony will be held at 12 noon on Wednesday at the Raj Bhawan.

The reshuffle comes as Dikshit completes her almost two years in office in her third consecutive term. The sources said the portfolios of all the remaining five ministers will be changed.

The size of the cabinet in Delhi cannot exceed seven as per the law.

Earlier in the evening, the chief minister held a series of meetings to finalise the revamp exercise.

Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan is likely to lose his PWD as well as Revenue portfolios, the sources said. The Revenue department may go to A K Walia who currently holds the Finance portfolio, they said.

Sources also indicated that the Education department is likely to go to somebody else apart from Arvinder Singh Lovely. Kiran Walia, who also holds Woman and Child Welfare, may lose the Health department.