PTI MIRITI (WEST BENGAL) PRANAB Mukherjee will resign as Finance Minister on June 26 ahead of filing nomination papers for the Presidential election for which he made a veiled appeal to defiant ally Trinamool Congress for support.

“I will resign as Union Finance Minister on June 26 and from the CWC in a day or two,” Mukherjee told reporters in Miriti at his ancestral village in Birbhum district.

Mukherjee said that he could have resigned earlier, but since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was abroad he had to look after certain matters.

Earlier in the day in Kolkata he said that he would demit office on Sunday, June 24.

“This is my last visit to Kolkata as the Finance Minister,” he said before leaving for Miriti.

“After that I will not be able to speak anything either on government or on party matters,” he said.

At Miriti, the veteran leader said, “I am not yet the president, I have been nominated as the Presidential candidate.

Though I have been nominated as a Congress leader, after being elected a President no longer belongs to any political party. He works according to the Constitution.” In an apparent reference to the Trinamool Congress, he said in Kolkata, “Except for one partner all UPA allies have supported my candidature. Non- UPA partners like Samjawadi Party, BSP, besides other parties like CPI(M), AIFB, JD(U), Shiv Sena have also supported my candidature.

“My prayer is that those who have not yet taken a decision please support the UPA presidential candidate,” he said.

The Trinamool Congress was yet to decide on supporting any presidential candidate after APJ Abdul Kalam, whom it had backed, declined to contest.

“I am grateful to the political parties which have expressed support to my candidature,” he said.

Sources earlier said that Mukherjee was expected to file his nomination papers for the Presidential election on June 28. Four sets of nomination papers, each having 50 proposers and seconders, were being readied for him.

Earlier, expressing concern over signs of weakness in the Pranab said the government is set to announce certain measures on Monday to improve market conditions in consultations with the Reserve Bank. He said the Department of Economic Affairs had consulted with RBI Governor D Subbarao about the measures to be taken in this regard.

“We will be able to take certain measures to be announced on Monday which will improve the market condition,” Mukherjee said in Kolkata. “GDP is at 6.5. There is inflationary pressure, there is depreciation of rupee.

There are no doubt signs of weakness in Indian economy,” the Minister said, adding, “I am concerned but not depressed”.

“When the world is in turmoil, then a large economy like India cannot stay immune,” he told reporters. Basic fundamentals are strong in Indian economy, the Minister said, adding that the period from January to June 2012 saw an inflow of FII money to the tune of $8 billion. The FII inflow for the corresponding period in 2011 was negative, he said.

“This year FDI stood at 46 billion to 48 billion US dollars,” Mukherjee said, adding that this was possibly his last visit to the city as Finance Minister.