Hooda ministry to be expanded: Prithviraj Chavan

The Hooda ministry in Haryana will be expanded shortly as talks on the issue are in progress within the Congress, senior party leader and Union minister Prithviraj Chavan said here today.

"The discussions on expansion of Hooda's council of ministers is in progress within the party and it will take place at an appropriate time shortly," Chavan, who is also in charge of the party's affairs in Haryana, told reporters here on the sidelines of the 15 All India Whips conference here.

Rejecting allegations that the ruling Congress in Haryana is facing dissidence within the party from former ministers Kiran Choudhary and Savitri Jindal, Chavan said, "Everybody is provided space within the party."

However, he said a coordination committee had been set up within the state unit of the Congress to check dissidence and described both Choudhary and Jindal as leaders who wielded considerable influence in their respective constituencies.

On the defeat of ruling Congress in the recent by-poll to Ellenabad seat, Chavan said the party would do introspection but added that the Congress fought the elections well as the defeat margin was reduced considerably.