NCPhas decided to pull out of the UPA government and support it from outside in protest against the way the party was treated by Congress, creating fresh trouble for the ruling coalition.

Party supremo Sharad Pawar, Minister for Agriculture, and the only other representative in the Union Cabinet, Praful Patel, Minister for Heavy Industry, have informed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that they are tendering their resignations.

In a separate communication to UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Pawar has said NCP, which has nine members in the Lok Sabha and seven in the Rajya Sabha, will stay part of the UPA.

Despite these missives from NCP sent on Thursday, the Congress leadership was continuing to make efforts to retain the party in the coalition government.

The Congress Core Group including Gandhi, Singh and senior Ministers, met on Friday evening after which party sources claimed the crisis was being defused.