PM should step down and seek fresh mandate: Trinamool Congress MP

KOLKATA: Asserting that the UPA government has lost its moral right to continue, Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh today demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh step down and seek a fresh mandate.

"Before accepting the resignation of Trinamool Congres ministers, the Prime Minister should step down and seek a fresh mandate on whether the country is permitting his policies or not," the MP said in a tweet.

Opposing what he described as "anti-people policies", he said, "Congress should remember it is not their private government. They have no moral right to continue with those policies."

Trinamool Congress yesterday withdrew its support from the UPA and decided to formally pull out its ministers from the Union government on Friday, leaving a window open for the Union government to reconsider its decisions in the meantime.

The second biggest constituent of the UPA with 19 members in Lok Sabha said the party could reconsider its stand if the government rolls back its decisions on FDI, raised the cap on subsidised LPG from six to 12 cylinders besides reducing diesel hike from Rs 5 by Rs 3 or Rs 4.