Patna, May 31: Bihar’s ruling establishment was agog with speculation that chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was engaged in an exercise to expand his council of ministers in the immediate future.

What has lent credence to the speculation is the change in Governor D.Y. Patil’s itinerary. The governor, out of the state at the moment, was scheduled to return to Raj Bhavan on June 6 but is returning on June 2 now.

Sources said the governor changed his schedule after chief secretary Brajesh Mehrotra met him in Mumbai on Friday in connection with some “urgent official work”. Patil, reportedly, apprised the chief secretary about his return to Raj Bhavan on June 2 itself instead of June 6.

Soon after taking oath on May 20, the chief minister had told reporters he would expand his ministry very soon. Manjhi has 17 members — all cabinet ministers — in his ministry.

Except for Dularchand Goswami and Vinay Bihari — two Independents who are new faces — the others were all in the Nitish regime.

Sources said the ministry expansion could take place on June 2 or any day after it.

It is widely speculated that Rajiv Ranjan Singh, alias Lallan Singh, who lost his Munger Lok Sabha seat to BJP-backed LJP nominee Veena Devi, might find a berth in the Manjhi ministry. Lallan was also among 12 others recently nominated to the state Legislative Council.

The names of Samrat Choudhary, Ram Lakhan Ram Raman and Javed Iqbal, who resigned as RJD MLAs to get nominated as JD(U) MLCs, are also doing the rounds.

“The trio might be rewarded for siding with Nitish,” a source in the JD(U) said. Similarly, Rana Rangeshwar and Vijay Kumar Mishra, who resigned as BJP MLAs to get nominated as JD(U) MLCs, showing solidarity with Nitish, could be considered.

The ministry expansion has been on the cards ever since Nitish broke the alliance with the BJP last June.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, too, Nitish had stated he would expand the ministry.

Sources maintained that after winning the trust motion, Manjhi was planning a ministry expansion to send across the message that his government was in place to deliver the goods in the run-up to Assembly elections next year.

Manjhi can have 17 more faces in his ministry. There are only cabinet-rank ministers since last June.

Manjhi could induct ministers of state to give the relatively young and less experienced legislators an opportunity to add dynamism to the government.