Minister of State for Commerce and Power Jairam Ramesh today resigned from the council of ministers to be able to devote more time to the party.
In 2004, Ramesh along with a small group of congressmen, had been the moving force behind the drafting of the Congress manifesto, which later morphed into the Common Minimum Programme (CMP), the document on the basis of which the United Progressive Alliance government moved forward.
Ramesh was asked by Congress President Sonia Gandhi to carry out the same mandate for the 2009 general elections. He will be in charge of publicity, drafting the manifecto and outlining future challenges for the Congress.