Cabinet expansion delayed

The expansion of the Maharashtra council of ministers has been delayed and will take place before Diwali (November 12), Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said on Tuesday.

He, however, could not meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi. "The expansion will take place after the three-day assembly session concluding on November 6 and before Diwali, consultations are still on," he told reporters, declining to commit any date.

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Elections to the Maharashtra assembly took place on October 13. Deshmukh was sworn in as chief minister and NCP leader R R Patil as his deputy on Monday, after a 12-day stalemate between the Congress and the NCP on the post of chief minister.

Deshmukh paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and held consultations with several senior Congress leaders in Delhi, including AICC general secretary Margaret Alva.

He admitted that the exercise of ministry formation needed time. Deshmukh said Congress and the Independents supporting it would get 18 ministerial berths in the two-tier ministry.