By IANS
Chandigarh : Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Tuesday said his ministry would be expanded after next month's presidential election.
Talking to reporters here after meeting Haryana Youth Congress leaders, Hooda said the Congress high command would clear the names of the new ministers to be inducted.
Hooda's over-two-year-old government presently has 12 ministers – including the chief minister and Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan. The government has nine cabinet and three ministers of state.
"The expansion of the cabinet will take place after the presidential poll. Presently, we are busy in ensuring a smooth victory for United Progressive Alliance (UPA) alliance nominee Pratibha Patil," Hooda said.
The Haryana government can have 14 ministers under the law governing the size of ministries.
There are two slots available against many legislators who are aspirants for becoming ministers. The names doing rounds are Shiv Shankar Bhardwaj and former minister Mange Ram Gupta.
The ministerial berths are likely to be given to strike a balance of areas that are unrepresented. The move is also being seen as one to counter the dissidence being spread by former chief minister Bhajan Lal and his MP son Kuldip Bishnoi.
Hooda's confidant Venod Sharma resigned a few months ago after his son Manu (Siddharth) Sharma was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in the 1999 Jessica Lal murder case.
Sharma was considered the most powerful minister after Hooda. No replacement was made after his exit from the ministry.
Two ministers of the Hooda government – O.P. Jindal and Surender Singh – were killed in a helicopter crash in March last year. Their ministerial slots were given to their wives – Savitri Jindal and Kiran Chaudhary. Both women were made ministers of state with independent charge.