The Left parties met President Pratibha Patil on Wednesday to formalise their withdrawal of support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat along with his Communist Party India and Forward Bloc counterparts - AB Bardhan and Debabrata Biswas - went to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to meet the President and hand over their letters of withdrawal.
The letter also urged the President to hold a session of Parliament at the earliest on the Vote of Confidence.
The CPI-M list submitted to President has 44 names, which includes Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Independent Sebastian Paul. Paul is an MP from Ernakulam in Kerala.
Soon after the Left announced that it was withdrawing its support to the UPA on Tuesday, the Congress convened an urgent meeting at the residence of party President Sonia Gandhi to chalk out its strategy.
The Congress seems confident that with the Samajwadi Party on its side, it has the requisite numbers to cling on to power. The focus is now on smaller parties and their support could prove crucial for the survival of the government.
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