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Thackeray quells buzz about Prabhu's resignation

Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Thursday sought to put at rest speculation regarding resignation of high-profile Union Energy Minister Suresh Prabhu by stating that neither has he asked the minister to resign nor received his resignation papers.

"I have not asked Prabhu to resign and neither has he submitted his resignation," the Sena chief was quoted as saying in the party mouthpiece Saamna in Mumbai.

The reports regarding Prabhu putting in his papers are baseless "and there is not an iota of truth in them", Sena spokesperson Subhash Desai said.

"We are also investigating as from where this news emanated," he said, adding that a premier private TV channel, which carried the news initially, had tendered an apology for this.

The news of Prabhu's resignation has created ripples in the political circles here. The minister's absence at the two-day Sena conclave in temple town of Shirdi on April 9 and 10, had fuelled the speculation about his resignation.

The Sena minister was to speak on power reforms at the party convention but could not make it as he was unwell, Sena sources said.

Another factor that gave credence to the resignation drama was reports doing rounds in Sena camp that Prabhu had fallen from the grace of the party supremo. The reports stated that the party chief was apparently unhappy with the style of functioning of Prabhu, who is accused of behaving like a technocrat and not a Shiv Sainik.

Prabhu had himself denied reports that he has resigned from the government.

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