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Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is understood to have conveyed to Trinamul Chief Mamata Banerjee that the resignation of Defence Minister George Fernandes was ruled out, a demand she made to him in the wake of the tehelka.com expose on arms deals.
The Trinamul Congress is now said to be considering its next move in the light of the prime minister's reply. Banerjee had, on Wednesday, in a letter to him demanded that Fernandes's offer of resignation be accepted.
The railway minister is likely to consult her MPs on the strategy to be adopted in view of the fact that she had threatened to review support to the NDA government if Fernandes did not resign, sources said.
Vajpayee, in his letter to Banerjee, is believed to have said that allegations have been made in the secretly recorded tapes against Fernandes and some defence officials, and that action was being taken against the officials.
PTI
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