Chief minister all set to expand his cabinet today

CHANDIGARH: With a lot happening in Haryana on the political front, chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda appears to have finally woken up to the need to placate some heavyweights in the state.
The chief minister is all set to expanded his Cabinet on Friday with the hope of pleasing a few political top shots.
Considered to be a political necessity for Hooda, Tosham MLA, Kiran Chaudhary, is likely to be inducted.However, political sources said that to counter her growing clout and to keep her bound to her district, the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) rebel, Satpal Sangwan, might also be included in the Cabinet.
Assembly speaker, Harmohinder Singh Chatha, who is understood to have expressed his keenness to get on board, may also be included in the Hooda ministry.
Other HJC rebels, Rao Narender Singh and Vinod Bhayana, are also serious contenders for the ministerial berths in the Congress government.
However, Bhayana and MLAs like Dharam Singh Chhokar and Jile Ram may also be nominated as chief parliamentary secretaries.
In case, Chatha is made minister, then former finance minister Sampat Singh may be considered for the post of assembly speaker, said sources.
Sources also added that MLA Kuldeep Sharma and former speaker Raghubir Singh Kadiyan may also be considered for the post of speaker.
After winning assembly polls in October 2009, six cabinet ministers and three ministers of state were included in the Hooda ministry.
As per the existing norms, four more ministers can be included in the cabinet. Keeping the current political situation in mind, the chief minister has decided to cash in on this factor to expand his ministry.