Bengaluru, July 27 -- Karnataka chief minister DK Shivakumar, along with former CM Siddaramaiah and state Congress president BK Hariprasad, will travel to New Delhi on Monday for a possible meeting with the Congress high command to finalise the list of candidates for the 20 vacant ministries as part of the long-pending cabinet expansion in the southern state. A meeting of senior party leaders is scheduled for Monday evening, with leaders familiar with the matter saying the much-delayed cabinet expansion could be announced as early as Tuesday or Wednesday. The exercise comes days before Karnataka's legislature convenes for its monsoon session in the first week of August. Shivakumar, who was sworn in as CM along with 13 ministers on June 3, following Siddaramaiah's resignation on May 28, on Sunday said he had convened a meeting of Union ministers and lawmakers from Karnataka in Delhi to discuss the drought situation and ot her issues concerning the state. With the sanctioned strength of the Karnataka council of ministers being 34, including the CM, 20 ministerial berths remain vacant. More than 60 Congress legislators are eyeing those 20 berths. The final list has already been discussed by Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah with Venugopal and AICC Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, people familiar with the matter said. The names now await clearance from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, they added. "The list is expected to receive its final approval from Rahul Gandhi, while Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is also expected to participate in the decision. Some changes remain possible because Rahul Gandhi has favoured bringing more new faces into the ministry," a senior Congress leader said, requesting anonymity. Among those eyeing a cabinet berth are Babasaheb Patil, Basanagowda Turvihal, NT Srinivas, JN Ganesh, Vishwas Vaidya, BB Chimmanakatti, K Harish Gowda, Ravi Shankar, Prakash Koliwad and Shivaganga Basavaraj. Meanwhile, Shivakumar has made district administration directly responsible for protecting the integrity of the examinations, warning deputy commissioners that they will be held accountable for any question paper leak or security lapse. The development comes as the southern state prepares to recruit more than 72,000 government employees with police and civil service examinations over the coming week....