PM thanks Mamata for extending support to Pranab

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday thanked Trinamool Congress president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee when she informed him of the party's decision to support United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential election.

Informing this, Trinamool Congress' Rajya Sabha MP Kunal Ghosh told PTI that Banerjee had called up the prime minister and told him about the party's decision prior to her press conference where he announced it publicly.

Earlier, Banerjee said at the press conference that the Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had rung her up to request her party's support for Mukherjee.

In a surprise move, Banerjee today announced her party's decision to vote for Mukherjee "in the interest of the UPA coalition, and in greater national interest and keeping in mind the people's interests".