The much-awaited expansion and reshuffle of the six month-old H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition Cabinet in Karnataka would be carried out here Saturday evening. Two ministers -- Ramesh Jarkiholi (Municipal Administration) and R Shankar (Forest and Environment) -- are likely to be dropped, official sources said. New ministers would be sworn in at 5.20 pm by Governor Vajubhai Vala at Raj Bhavan, the sources said.

According to a statement issued by the office of Congress Legislature Party Leader Siddaramaiah, Satish Jarkiholi, M B Patil, C S Shivalli, M T B Nagaraj, E Tukaram, P T Parameshwar Naik, Rahim Khan and R B Thimmapur would be inducted into the ministry. The press statement came a day after the names were cleared by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi, after meeting party General Secretary in charge of Karnataka KC Venugopal, CLP leader Siddarmaiah, Pradesh Congress Chief Dinesh Gundu Rao and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara gave the go-ahead on Friday night.