The expansion is scheduled to take place on October 10 but is contingent on Vajpayee's discussions with the allies on the number of inductees and portfolio distribution.

Regional politics will again determine the fate of the expanded ministry with nominees of Akali hardliner G S Tohra, mercurial AIADMK chief Jayalalitha, BJD leader Navin Patnaik and Samata president George Fernandes slated to get berths.

The BJP is also hoping to rope in reluctant allies TDP and the Trinamul Congress but so far, Vajpayee has had no luck in convincing party chiefs Chandrababu Naidu and Mamata Banerjee, both of whom are concerned about the impact of joining the BJP-led Government on the Muslim vote in their states.

A surprise entrant may be an MP from new-found friend Vaiko Gopalswamy's MDMK. Vaiko indicated recentlythat although he himself will not join the Cabinet, he now wants his party to be part of the Government.

Vajpayee has already begun the delicate negotiations for portfolios. He met Fernandes yesterday. Tomorrow, the leaders of his two most demanding partners, the Akali Dal and the AIADMK, arrive in Delhi for talks.

The Prime Minister is slated to consult the others, including Banerjee who is in New York, over the next few days.

Although a section of the BJP is wary of upsetting the tenuous balance within the coalition through a selective Cabinet expansion, its allies have left the party with no choice.

The murmurs of dissent over the last several weeks are attributed to growing restlessness within the coalition at being denied a share in the power structure at the Centre. The BJP hopes that complaints of ``not being consulted'' will cease with greater representation in the Cabinet.

BJP sources said the Prime Minister aims to limit the number of new ministers to around a dozen but the size of theministry will be determined by bargain the allies drive and the extent of BJP representation needed to maintain the current power balance. The benchmark is the 74-member ministry headed by Narasimha Rao. The party does not want to exceed this limit.

The BJP may also use the slated expansion to sort out some of its internal problems with controversial ministers and feuding state leaders. The deadlock between Urban Development Minister Ram Jethmalani and his bureaucrats and the open war between Uma Bharati and her senior in the Human Resource Development Ministry, Murli Manohar Joshi, are sources of acute embarrassment for the party. A reshuffle of portfolios may be the only way out of the imbroglio.

Sushma Swaraj will also have to divest one of her two portfolios, Information and Broadcasting or Communications. Since both are considered vital by the RSS, it is not an easy decision, particularly since the party will have to find a replacement acceptable to the Sangh.

Another source of tension is theallocation of suitable portfolios to Jaswant Singh and Pramod Mahajan. Both were given Rajya Sabha tickets after they lost the Lok Sabha elections so that they could be legitimately accommodated in the Government.

With Assembly elections in Delhi coming up in November, the Central leadership is under pressure from Khurana supporters in Delhi to bring him back as chief minister and accommodate Sahib Singh Verma in the Cabinet.

A similar solution is being proffered by BJP leaders in UP where Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and state unit president Rajnath Singh are at loggerheads with each other.

These are headaches Vajpayee and Advani will have to sort out once the difficult tasks of dealing with the allies is over.