Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister N Dharam Singh will lead an all-party delegation to New Delhi on August 23 to press the Centre on its twin demands including enactment of legislation to regulate admission in private professional colleges in the country.

The delegation would call on Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh seeking a central legislation on professional courses admission and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to plead for an amendment to Article 371 of the Constitution to give special economic powers to backward North Karnataka region, an official press release said in Bangalore today (Aug 21, 2004).

Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would leave for the national capital tomorrow (Aug 22, 2004) to join the delegation, another official release said.

Singh has been camping in Delhi since yesterday to attend the AICC (All India Congress Committee) session and also to hold parleys with Congress high command on the much-awaited expansion of the three-month-old coalition Government headed by him.

Sources in Congress maintain that Singh's efforts to expand the ministry by this month end, was unlikely to come through.

Meanwhile, several ministerial aspirants from Congress and JDS (Janata Dal -Secular) have already landed in Delhi.