Prime Minister Narendra Modi will expand his Council of Ministers this afternoon. Around a dozen new ministers are likely to be inducted. Manohar Parrikar who resigned as Goa Chief Minister Saturday is all set to join the cabinet.

Among the other names doing the rounds for induction are BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, party leader from Haryana, Choudhary Birender Singh, party General Secretary J P Nadda, former minister Yashwant Sinha's son Jayant Sinha, party MPs Col. Sonaram Chaudhary, Hansraj Ahir, Ramkripal Yadav, Giriraj Singh and Anurag Thakur. Some leaders of NDA ally like Shiv Sena's Anil Desai and TDP' s Y S Choudhary are expected to find a place in the expanded cabinet.

AIR correspondent reports that it will be the first expansion of the Council of Ministers which has 45 members right now. The community and region leaders with less representation in the present cabinet are likely to get berth in the expanded Council of Ministers. There could be more ministers from Rajasthan and Bihar. Upcoming Assembly polls in different states are also being taken into consideration while finalizing the list of new faces.

There is a possibility that some ministers with independent charge may be elevated to the cabinet rank. Ministers like Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari and Prakash Javadekar, who are holding additional portfolios may be divested of some of the ministries. Prime Minister is hosting a tea party for all the probable ministers this morning before the swearing in ceremony.