The Union Council of Ministers is expected to be expanded on Thursday during which representatives of DMK and other UPA allies would be among those inducted in the government. The indications of the second phase of swearing-in taking place on Thursday came after a Congress core group meeting chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi here on Tuesday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi had a four-hour-long meeting. The meeting, which was attended by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, defense minister AK Antony, political secretary to the Congress president Ahmed Patel, discussed threadbare allocation of ministerial berths and portfolios. Sources said issues related to allocation of ministerial berths and portfolios have been sorted out with all allies.
