Trinamool quits UPA govt

(From right): Trinamool Congress Ministers Mukul Roy, Sisir Adhikari, Sudip Bandopadhyay, Sultan Ahmed, Saugata Ray and C.M. Jatua at the party office in New Delhi on Friday before leaving for the Prime Minister's residence to tender their resignations.

Trinamool Congress on Friday formally withdrew support to the UPA government and its six Ministers quit in protest against FDI in retail.

The party, which has 19 members in the Lok Sabha, gave a letter withdrawing support to the government to President Pranab Mukherjee.

Minutes earlier, six Trinamool Congress Ministers submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who expressed sadness over their decision.

The Ministers — Mukul Roy, Sudip Bandhyopadhay, Sultan Ahmed, Saugata Roy, Sisir Adhikary and C. M. Jatua — went to the Prime Minister’s 7, Race Course Road residence to submit their resignations.

Straight from there, they went to Rashtrapati Bhavan for give the letter withdrawing support.

“We, the six Trinamool Congress Ministers of the Council of Ministers, including Cabinet Minister, went to the Prime Minister’s residence at 4 p.m. and we handed over to him individual letters of resignation of all the six Ministers,” said Mr. Saugata Roy.

“Now, we have come to Rashtrapati Bhavan and handed over a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee, signed by Mukul Roy, chairman of the Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party, withdrawing our support to the UPA-II government... The President has accepted our letter,” he said.

Earlier, while receiving the resignation letters, the Prime Minister said he was “sad” that they were quitting, Mr. Bandhyopadhay said.

Asked whether the Trinamool leaders had demanded a floor test by the government to check its majority, Mr. Saugata Roy said, “no, we did not. Beyond what I have told you, we have not said anything extra.”

He refused to reveal what the Prime Minister told them, saying it was confidential.

Mr. Bandhyopadhyay was Minister of State for Health, Mr. Ahmed MoS for Tourism, Mr. Sougata Roy MoS for Urban Development, Mr. Adhikary MoS Rural Development and Mr. Jatua MoS Information and Broadcasting.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday had announced the party’s decision to withdraw support to the UPA protesting the Centre’s decisions to hike diesel prices, withdraw subsidy on cooking gas and allow FDI in multi-brand retail.