File photo: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Despite an uneasy exchange with the Prime Minister's party in the last few days, the Shiv Sena is likely to be included today in the expansion of the cabinet, suggesting that the two sides may be about to finally close a deal over co-governing Maharashtra.
Anil Desai of the Shiv Sena has caught a flight to Delhi, said sources - he has reportedly been nominated by his party as its nominee among the 22 new ministers who are expected to take their oaths as the Rashtrapati Bhavan today.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP is also reportedly on his way to Delhi to attend the swearing-in.
What unfolds in the Capital today is crucial to resolving the relationship status between the BJP and the Sena in Maharashtra. The Sena wants to join the government led by Mr Fadnavis; the BJP has publicly said it would like that, but privately, negotiations have been exacting and slow.
The BJP - which has a minority government - is unwilling to cede to the Shiv Sena's demands for the post of Deputy Chief Minister and an important portfolio like either Home or Finance. Mr Fadnavis will take a trust vote on Wednesday, but has little reason for nerves - Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party has said it will abstain, allowing him to win.
But Mr Pawar's calling card as an ally cannot lay claim to either loyalty or dependability, which is partly why the BJP is keen to reunite with the Shiv Sena.
The parties split in September ahead of the state election; after a characteristically vicious campaign, the Shiv Sena's tone, since the results, has scaled a register from offensive to ingratiating.
Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, whose various deadlines for a compromise have been ignored so far by the BJP, had reportedly made it clear that unless his party was represented in the cabinet expansion today, he would decide to serve as the Opposition in Maharashtra.