By IANS
Lucknow : Eight new faces are likely to be inducted into Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s council of ministers Wednesday evening.
A reshuffle is also being speculated along with the expansion.
“The expansion is to take place at 5 p.m. at the Raj Bhavan where Governor T.V. Rajeshwar will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new incumbents,” according to an official spokesman.
Some existing ministers of state are likely to be elevated to cabinet rank. Prominent among them are Anant Kumar Misra, the first cousin of Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Brahmin mascot and Mayawati close confidante Satish Misra.
The new entrants are likely to include Kazim Ali Khan, the scion of the erstwhile princely family of Rampur. Khan recently got elected to the state assembly in a by-election. His mother Begum Noor Bano is a Congress leader.
Earlier, two members of the 49-member Mayawati government had resigned, bringing down the strength of the council of ministers to 47.
As per rules, which limit the size of the government to 15 percent of the numerical strength of the state assembly, Mayawati can take the number of her pack to 60.