Howrah, Apr 27: Though highly critical of the Centre's handling of the price rise among several other issues, the CPM ruled out any possibility of withdrawing its support to the Congress-led UPA government.

"Why is there any talk of our withdrawing support to the UPA government now? We could have done it earlier if we had wanted to," CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri said.

On the sidelines of a convention of All-India Motor Transport Congress at Kona near Howrah, Yechuri said, "We are supporting this government to keep off communal forces and maintain national integrity."

Asked about the sharp hike in the prices of essentials, the CPM leader said, "We have been keeping the government under pressure to resolve problems plaguing the country."

"There is, however, no possibility of our party's withdrawing support to the government at the Centre," he said.