BJP ally TDP likely to get another berth in Union Cabinet as Modi speaks to Naidu on nominees

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party ally Telugu Desam Party is likely to get a berth in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, say sources.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly called up TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu on Friday evening and asked him to nominate a party leader for the Union Cabinet.

Naidu has proposed the name of Rajya Sabha MP YS Chowdary- who is considered a staunch loyalist of the TDP chief. TDP already has one of its leaders in the Union Cabinet. Ashok Gajpathi Raju is the Civil Aviation Minister.

The BJP government seems to be considering all its allies in the expansion of the Union Cabinet. It had expressed keen interest in inducting Shiv Sena leader Suresh Prabhu into the Council of Ministers. But Sena has conveyed that the leader cannot be sent to to Parliament till 2016 and instead has put forward Anil Desai's candidature for Rajya Sabha.

The high profile Defence portfolio is likely to be given to Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. The Union Cabinet is likely to be expanded on Sunday. According to sources, Hazaribagh MP and son of senior leader Yashwant Sinha, Jayant Sinha could be inducted in the Cabinet.

The man who exposed the coal block allocation scam, Hansraj Ahir could be included in the expansion along with a Jat leader from Rajasthan or Haryana. Rajasthan which currently has just one minister in the Cabinet, could also find another representation in the Union Council of ministers.

The swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers in likely to take place on Sunday evening.