ISLAMABAD, Feb 24: The federal cabinet will be further expanded after Senate elections, with more defectors becoming ministers.

Informed sources told Dawn that 15 new ministers would be inducted in the cabinet, a majority of them as ministers of state after the completion of the Senate elections by the end of the current month.

Two allied parties — the National Alliance and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement — are set to get the agreed share in the federal cabinet. A niece of MNA Farooq Leghari is being tipped as minister of state for foreign affairs.

Maulana Tahirul Qadiri is likely to become minister of state for religious affairs. Maulana Azam Tariq, who once headed banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan, is also hoping to become a minister. The sources said he was only asking for a cabinet slot and was not interested in any special ministry.

Two defectors — Asad Raza Gillani and Dr Sher Afgan — who were elected on PP Parliamentarians’ ticket, have also been assured of the cabinet portfolios.

Dr Sher Afgan is most likely to be given the portfolio of minister of state for parliamentary affairs. Amir Nazir, Khusro Bakhtiar and Riaz Pirzada are other serious contenders for cabinet ministers.

Names of the MQM ministers would be finalised by the party leadership.