Dropped Soren is likely to be picked up again in Cabinet reshuffle today

His surrender in court saw him being remanded to judicial custody. He was released in September after he was granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court. Committed to face trial, he has to appear before the court every now and then.

The PM, who leaves on Sunday for the Indo-Asean summit in Laos, is also likely to find place for RPI’s Ram Das Athavale as a Minister of State. Soren is expected to get Coal ministry while Mines will in all probability be handed to Labour minister Sis Ram Ola.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti’s Chandrasekhar Rao, who had been a minister without portfolio and had been making threatening noises with his demand for a separate Telangana, is likely to be given charge of Labour.

Earlier today, Rao also managed to secure an assurance from the Government that a sub-committee would be formed to look into the Telangana demand.

There is also likelihood of younger MPs being sworn in as Ministers of State to provide representation to the youth. Among the names doing the rounds are those of Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sachin Pilot, Jatin Prasada.

This evening, Soren and Rao had a long meeting with the PM. Soren emerged only at 10.40 pm. For the record, he said: ‘‘When the Congress calls me, I will go.’’

With Jharkhand elections approaching, Soren has been reminding the Congress that he is the only force in the state. ‘‘We are strong in Jharkhand and we got victory for the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections,’’ said Soren.

He maintained that the alliance in Jharkhand was intact: ‘‘The four-party alliance will stay. We will fight with the alliance.’’ — (with Nirmala Ganapathy in New Delhi and Manoj Prasad in Ranchi)