Didi goes, Mulayam stays

The day the Trinamool officially withdrew support to the UPA, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav pledged to back the Manmohan Singh government, saying it was necessary to "keep communal forces at bay". HT reports.

The day the Trinamool officially withdrew support to the UPA, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav pledged to back the Manmohan Singh government, saying it was necessary to "keep communal forces at bay".

Since Tuesday, when TMC chief Mamata Banerjee declared her decision to part ways with the Congress, SP had been avoiding to clear the ambiguity over its stance on backing the UPA.

On Friday, Yadav finally cleared the air.

"We are not in the UPA, but our support to the government is clear," he said.

Withdrawal of support by TMC has brought down UPA's numbers, but it does not pose any threat to the government.

Meanwhile, as TMC ministers went to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to put in their papers on Friday, Banerjee instructed them to keep their exchange with Singh cordial.

The ministers thanked Singh for his "guidance, support and indulgence", and the PM reportedly called Trinamool a "good ally".

Their meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee was also bereft of any political talks. Mukherjee reportedly discussed the history of the Rashtrapati Bhawan with the ministers after they submitted TMC's letter on withdrawing support.

The letter stated that issues, such as the hikes in prices of petroleum products and fertilisers, FDI in retail trade and restriction on LPG subsidies were behind the decision to part ways.