Thursday, January 26 2006 20:05 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: There was no necessity for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to step down as demanded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the light of the Supreme Court verdict on Bihar, but Governor Buta should have stepped down earlier, veteran Communist Party of India (CPI) Marxist (M) leader Jyoti Basu said today (Jan 26,2006). "No, no that is not necessary. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) reigned for a long time. Now let Manmohan reign for some time also," the Basu told sources reacting to the BJP demand.

Basu, a former West Bengal Chief Minister said, "Buta Singh should have resigned much earlier. Why he took time I do not know. My party has been saying that he should step down in view of the Supreme Court judgement."