The omission of Apna Dal-S leader Anupriya Patel from the Union ministry has come as a disappointment for supporters, with some leaders suggesting that she declined an offer to be a minister of state.

District unit president of the Apna Dal-S Ramakant Patel said, "We were expecting that Anupriya, who was an MoS in the previous ministry, will be elevated to cabinet position and were not aware of her omission from the list till the last minute."

"She had received a phone call and was told to prepare herself for the swearing in ceremony. But I feel that she did not agree for a minister of state rank," a party insider said, requesting anonymity.

"In the initial rounds, there were talks about her elevation, hence she might have declined the offer," the party leader said, adding she should have been offered at least the rank of minister of state with independent charge.

When contacted, senior party leader and MLC Ashish Singh Patel said it was up to the prime minister to choose his team.

"We are with the NDA... It is the prerogative of the prime minister who will join his team," he said, when asked about his party not being accommodated in the Modi 2.0 regime.

Apna Dal-S leaders cite senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajnath Singh's promise of a better deal for Anupriya at a public meeting in Mirzapur during campaigning.

They say that the results in her favour had raised her supporters' expectations.

Supporters of Anupriya, who is in Delhi, feel that she might be accommodated in the government later, like the last time, when she was appointed minister of state two years after Modi became the prime minister.

Even local BJP leaders say that the AD-S is likely to be included in the government whenever the ministry is expanded at a later stage.  -- PTI