new delhi the longawaited expansion of the union cabinet is likely to take place on the evening of july 7 news agency ani reported quoting government sourcesthe expansion the first since narendra modi assumed power for the second term in 2019 comes ahead of key assembly elections lined up next year including in the politically crucial state of uttar pradeshread alsoahead of union cabinet expansion govt creates a new ministry of cooperationnew delhi ahead of the muchanticipated union cabinet expansion the government has created a newministry of cooperation this ministry will provide a separate administrative legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country it will help deepen cooperativeswhile there has been no official word on the cabinet reshuffle a series of meetings in the government and the bjp have fueled the speculation that a big rejig is on the cards pm modi has also held marathon meetings with union home minister amit shah and bjp general secretary organisation b l santhosh to reportedly give the finishing touches to his new cabinetin another pointer to the imminent reshuffle social justice and empowerment minister thaawarchand gehlot was appointed as karnataka governor causing yet another ministerial vacancykey probables with the buzz over the union cabinet reshuffle and expansion gaining momentum recently the names of several leaders who are likely to be inducted into the council of ministers have been doing the roundsthese are some of the leaders who may find a place in the union cabinet jyotiraditya scindiathe rajya sabha member is said to be highly favoured for a key portfolio in the new cabinet the scion of the gwalior royal family had crossed over from the congress along with his supporters resulting in the fall of the kamal nath government in madhya pradeshscindia was also instrumental in the bjp holding on to power in the crucial mp bypolls last year sarbananda sonowalthe former chief minister of assam was made to vacate the top post for himanta biswa sarma following the bjps victory in the assembly elections in may since then he has been a strong probable for a cabinet berth before becoming assam chief minister sonowal was union minister of state for youth affairs and sports from 201416sushil modihe was removed as the deputy cm of the state after the bjpjdu came to power last year and is likely to be placated with a ministerial berthhe is seen as a hot probable also because of his experience as well as strong reputation for mastery of facts and devotion to tasknarayan ranethe name of the former maharashtra chief minister has also been doing the rounds ahead of the expansionrane was part of the shiv sena and was removed from the party he later joined the congress in 2017 he left the congress to form his own party but later merged it into the bjpothersbesides these names of bhupender yadav anil baluni and sudhanshu trivedi are doing the rounds while bjp mps ashwini vaishnav and g v l