Second swearing-in likely on Thursday

UPA's impressive showing in the recently concluded general elections seems to have been shadowed by the jostling for Cabinet berths.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi are meeting at PM's residence on 7 Race Course Road.

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel was also present at the crucial meeting.

The expansion of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Cabinet, which was scheduled for Tuesday, has now been postponed and is likely to take place on Thursday.

The Prime Minister, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met for over four hours early on Monday night in an effort to resolve the issue of berth and portfolio distribution.

Sources told NDTV that the last-minute jostling for berths has caused the delay in the second round of swearing-in.

According to sources, Trinamool Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP are the two allies putting pressure on the UPA over the issue of Cabinet berths.

Besides, the Congress is undecided on allocating portfolios to some of its own leaders like Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal and H R Bhardwaj.

In the first round of swearing-in on FRiday, only 19 ministers were inducted along with the Prime Minister. Portfolios have been allocated to only six ministers.

The induction was a truncated affair as DMK, a key constituent of the UPA, was unhappy over the number of ministerial berths being offered by the Congress and threatened to support the government from outside.

The DMK reportedly wanted nine ministerial berths -- five Cabinet and four Minister of State. Congress, however, was not ready to give more than seven -- three Cabinet and four Minister of State.

The DMK has since apparently agreed to seven berths and indicated its readiness to join the government.

Significantly, ahead of the meeting between Gandhi and Singh, National Security Adviser M K Narayanan met the Prime Minister for about an hour.

Narayanan had met DMK chief M Karunanidhi in Chennai twice during the last two days and it was speculated that he discussed issues related to Cabinet berths.