Mamata Banerjee's aides opposed pullout

KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee may have claimed it was a "100% unanimous decision" to pull out of the UPA government, but the fact that the meeting stretched for nearly three hours indicates that there were differences of opinion in the 'one-person party'.

At least three of her key aides were against pulling out of the alliance but Mamata eventually prevailed. And she had the majority's support behind her.

Some senior leaders — including Saugata Roy — felt that a complete pullout would affect Bengal's interests. It is perhaps keeping this in mind that Mamata left a window open till Friday 3pm for the Centre to accede to her demands for a rollback.