The names of former Chief Election Commissioner TN Seshan and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Sunderlal Patwa are being considered for Governorship, sources said.

The party is also keen that Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) joint director UN Biswas (who is facing a departmental inquiry) be allowed a free hand to vigorously pursue the cases against Laloo.

The party leadership is under pressure to settle the Bihar situation. With discontent brewing among Samata MPs most of whom want Ministerships -- sources said unless the Bihar Government is dismissed or Laloo seen to be on his way out, this could be used as an excuse by those who are left out of the Council of Ministers to break away from the party when the time is ripe.

Indications are that two Ministers ofState may be chosen from the Samata, which has a strength of 12 MPs, during the next round of Cabinet expansion. The names of Digvijay Singh and Shakuni Chaudhary are being mentioned in this regard. But this is likely to alienate at least seven other MPs, including heavyweights like Kalpnath Rai, Abdul Gafoor, Mahendra Baitha and Vashisht Narain Singh.

Scenting trouble, other parties are believed to have opened lines of communication with some Samata MPs. Laloo Prasad has talked to Gafoor, while the Congress is making overtures to Kalpnath Rai.

The Central leadership of the Samata (which is aware that if the Centre dismisses the Bihar Government similar demands would follow from Tamil Nadu and Haryana) is said to be in favour of following a conservative approach. The argument is that if Laloo Prasad goes behind bars, his Rashtriya Janata Dal would crack up, whereas dismissal might confer martyrdom on him.

But the State units of both the Samata and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are not buying this andare demanding the immediate dismissal of the Rabri Government. State leaders, who had campaigned that there would be a change of Government once Atal Behari Vajpayee came to power, now fear a loss of credibility. The meeting of the Samata's national executive on April 25 and 26 is expected to focus on the issue.

Cabinet expansion is likely to open a Pandora's Box in the Samata. The problem, explained a Samata leader, is that there are few Cabinet posts left. (Samata leaders George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar have both been given senior Cabinet portfolios, Defence and Railways respectively.) And Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would have to accommodate the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which is expected to join the Government.

Kalpnath Rai, particularly, is already miffed because he was not included in the first round though he was reportedly promised a Cabinet berth when he joined the party. According to sources, there is virtually no contact between Rai and Samata leaders at present. The problem, however,is that Rai cannot be given anything less than a Cabinet berth, since he was a Cabinet Minister earlier.

The same applies to Gafoor, who, besides being a veteran politician is the only Muslim MP of the party, and so expects a Cabinet berth. Mahendra Baitha, who has been elected to the Lok Sabha for four consecutive terms and is the only Scheduled Caste MP from the Samata, also wants to be a Cabinet-rank Minister.