Trinamul ministers quit; UPA gets SP support
Six Union Cabinet ministers from the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamul Congress (TMC) met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his official, 7 Race Course Road residence here on Friday and submitted their resignations.
The resignations come days after the TMC's withdrawal of support over the government's move to allow FDI in retail, hike diesel prices and limit the cap on LPG cylinders to six per family per year.
Mukul Roy, who held the portfolio of the railway minister, led others to the Prime Minister's residence.
"The game is over. There is no room for negotiation. We will launch a nationwide protest against FDI in retail," he told mediapersons earlier.
Roy also said the UPA government was in a hurry to introduce FDI in retail by bypassing the Parliament.
"This is a minority government and the act of bypassing the Parliament is most unethical," he said.
TMC leader Sudeep Bandopadhyay, who was the minister of State for Health, earlier in the day said the stability of the UPA government would fall.
"We are happy as we are resigning for the people. The stability of the government will fall. We will dominate Indian politics in the future," he said.
Shishir Adhikari and Chowdhury Mohan Jatua, who were ministers of State for rural development and information and broadcasting in the UPA-2 regime respectively, also handed over their resignations.
TMC leader Saugata Roy, who was in-charge of the ministry of State for urban development, and Sultan Ahmad, who was in-charge of minister of State for tourism, also put in their papers.
The TMC ministers will now head to the Rashtrapati Bhawan where they will meet President Pranab Mukherjee and formally withdraw their support to the ruling UPA coalition in which Mamata Banerjee's Trinamul Congress was the second-largest ally.
Sticking to her decision to pull out of the UPA Government, Banerjee had earlier on Thursday said that her party's ministers at the Centre would resign on Friday.
"We have sought an appointment with the President. If he gives us time tomorrow, we will inform him of our decision. Otherwise, we will inform him later. Our ministers will submit their resignations to the Prime Minister tomorrow," she told mediapersons in Kolkata yesterday.
After Trinamul Congress's withdrawal of support, the UPA Government's support in Lok Sabha has come down from 273 to 254 leaving the coalition heavily dependent on Samajwadi Party (22) and BSP (21) for its majority in the House.
For a simple majority, the Manmohan Singh government needs the support of at least 273 MPs in a House of 545.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav earlier said that his party would continue to lend outside support to the Congress-led government.
"Our support is clear. We will not let communal forces come to power. That is why I am supporting. I am not in UPA. But we are supporting so that communal forces do not go ahead," he said.
Mayawati's Bahujan Samajwadi Party is, however, yet to make any announcement on providing support to the UPA coalition.
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