New Delhi, At the advice of the Congress high command, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is reportedly considering dropping at least six of his party ministers to accommodate Shibu Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and few members of the Samajwadi Party in the much awaited Cabinet expansion-cum-reshuffle, which is expected to take place within this month.

The highly placed government sources said those ministers belonging to the ruling Congress party who have been holding dual portfolios of ministers as well as the party office bearers are likely to be shifted from the government to the party organization. They include minister of state in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan who is also the party general secretary, information and broadcasting minister Priyo Ranjan Dasmunshi is also the party president of the West Bengal, Saiffudeen Soz is entrusted with the twin responsibilities of minister for water resources and J&K Congress chief, Ajay Makan is looking after the urban development ministry and party in charge of Orissa, Narayanswamy has been given dual charge of minister and party general secretary and labour minister Oscar Fernandes has also been appointed as party general secretary. The party leadership has also conveyed to the above leaders that one man one post formula would be put in place to pave the way for allies' entry into the government.

These entire six ministers, the sources say have been told to be prepare to concentrate on the party organization ahead of the forthcoming assembly and general elections. However, it is not yet clear whether or not the Samajwadi Party would join the government as Premier Singh has refused to allot key portfolios like home, finance, defence and petroleum and natural gas to the SP, which has staked claims on them. What Singh has offered to SP is the department of power. Early last week there were speculations that SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav would send only one party MP to the Cabinet and his brother Ram Gopal Yadav has emerged as front runner to join the government as power minister.

Meanwhile, talks between the Congress and SP is currently going on over the distribution of portfolios. The Congress has made it clear that it was not in a position to give important portfolios to the SP as any such move would affect the ongoing economic liberalization programme. The two sides are still engaged in working out a compromise formula. According to a senior Congress leader the existing allies of the UPA like RJD, NCP, LJP and others have refused to oblige the Congress party by agreeing to drop one of each of their ministers. There are indications that controversial SP general secretary Amar Singh might not join the government as he would be more powerful in influencing the policies of the government from outside to benefit his industrialist friends.

Prime Minister Singh would carry out expansion of his Cabinet only after negotiations between the Congress and SP are completed. Meanwhile, the Speaker of Lok Sabha Somnath Chatterjee has extended the tenure of the House committee, which is probing the cash-for-vote drama that shook the parliament during July-22 trust vote. The committee had urged the Speaker to extend the term of the committee on the ground that assigned timeframe is inadequate to complete the enquiry. Now, the committee has been asked to submit its report by August 30.

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