Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has decided not to accept Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and Minister of State for External Affairs Ajit Kumar Panja's resignations from the council of ministers over the issue of hike in petroleum products prices. An official spokesperson of PMO tonight said the prime minister will try to persuade the Trinamool Congress chief to withdraw her resignation.
Ms Banerjee and Mr Panja had announced their resignation at Calcutta in protest against the hike in petroleum products prices almost at the same time new ministers were being sworn into the central ministry at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
However, informed sources said that the resignation letters of both ministers were not received till late evening.

Bureau Report