Mamata's decision to leave UPA-II a 'moral stance': Amit Mitra

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra has justified TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s decision to walk out of the UPA saying it was done to preserve a ‘moral stance’.

“Mamata’s integrity is impeccable. The government is in a steady decline in terms of its integrity. The common people are expecting Mamata to take a strong stance on the integrity front,” Mitra said.

He said the decision to walk out was prompted by the attitude of the Congress towards the party.

There was no respect for the Party’s mandate and after over a year, the party still had to tolerate the anti-people decisions of the Congress, he said.

Approving FDI in multi-brand retail was not on the agenda of the Cabinet meeting, Mitra said, adding that it was tabled in the last minute.

There was no debate on the FDI issue in the Coordination Committee, he said, something that the Congress has claimed did happen.

He also said that the party is of the opinion that there are fundamental issues that need to be resolved, and the price of diesel has to be reduced, because the price rise has a cascading effect on people.

“There is a clear supply constraint and income shortage, and this decision was taken without taking her in confidence,” Mitra said.