Pranab to resign as finance minister today
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will resign late afternoon today from his post to contest Presidential elections. Mukherjee said he will submit his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at around 4.30 pm.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will resign late afternoon on Tuesday from his post to contest Presidential elections.
Mukherjee said he will submit his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at around 4.30 pm.
"I will put in my papers around 4.30 (pm). I will be leaving office around 4.30 (pm) and after meeting PM, I will be leaving for home," he told reporters outside his North Block office in New Delhi.
Earlier on Monday, a 12-member Coordination Committee had been constituted by Congress to finalise the campaign programme and strategy of UPA's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, who will file his nomination on June 28.
The Committee will meet on Tuesday and is expected to finetune the campaign of Mukherjee, who will also step down as finance minister on the same day.
Besides Mukherjee, the Committee has senior ministers and party leaders as its members.
The ministerial members are AK Antony, P Chidambaram, Ambika Soni, Rajiv Shukla, Pawan Kumar Bansal and PS Ghatowar.
The other members are Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Janardhan Dwivedi, Oscar Fernandes, Girija Vyas and PJ Kurien.
Mukherjee will file his papers for the July 19 Presidential poll on June 28, AICC general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi told reporters on Monday after the CWC meeting which bid a fond farewell to the Congress stalwart. June 30 is the last day for filing of nominations.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi will be among top UPA leaders who will propose Mukherjee's name when he files his papers.
He is expected to launch his campaign from Chennai on June 30 and then visit Hyderabad and Bangalore the next day.