Indications are that Swaraj will opt to retain her Lok Sabha seat, going back on her election promise that she was in Delhi politics to stay. Sources say that it is likely that she will be made a Union minister once more, although there is no guarantee that she will get her old portfolios - 6 Communications and I&B - back.

But like Pramod Mahajan, Swaraj will have to wait until Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee expands his Cabinet, expected to take place after a month. Much depends on the allies, who are still pushing for more representation in the Cabinet.

Swaraj and Verma both had been promised a Cabinet berth. Verma has been carrying around in his pocketthe PM's written assurance - given to him when he was asked to resign to make way for Swaraj - that he would be inducted into the Union Cabinet. But that was before the Assembly elections. ``The political situation has changed now. That was then and this is now,'' said a BJP leader.

In fact, there was a move last week to fill all the Cabinet vacancies caused by the resignations of the two AIADMK ministers, Buta Singh and Swaraj. But it was apparently aborted after AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha suggested that it would be better for Vajpayee to go in for a full-fledged Cabinet expansion.

As of now, for Verma, it appears that he will be left out in the cold since he is now neither an MLA nor an MP. ``The PM is unlikely to make him a minister and face embarrassment six months down the line,'' said a BJP source. He pointed out that it would be difficult to ensure Verma's election to the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, given the party's disastrous performance in the Assembly polls in Delhi.

The main point in Swaraj'sfavour is that she is a sitting MP. And for the BJP, every MP in the Lok Sabha counts. The party would not like to take the risk of facing a by-election to her South Delhi constituency, particularly when the Congress has swept the polls in the State.