"Taking all the responsibility for the failures in the sector, I will resign tomorrow," Talukder told The Daily Star last night, a day after the massive violence that was triggered by nagging power outages.

Satellite TV Channel i reported last night that the state minister had made a phone call to its office and said he will resign today.

In a late night development, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) relieved him of his responsibilities yesterday, reported state owned BSS at 10:22pm quoting a PMO source.

A late night government handout also confirmed the removal without giving any detail.

Talukder's dismissal is the second removal of a state minister for power in the last four months.

The government did not give the responsibilities to anyone else in his place yet. The prime minister, however, is in charge of the ministry.

Meanwhile, a highly placed source told The Daily Star that the PMO decision was made after the TV channel broadcasted Talukder's decision to resign.

Amid widespread public protest against a severe power crisis, the government replaced former state minister for power Iqbal Hassan Mahmood on May 21 with erstwhile state minister for finance and planning Anwarul Kabir Talukder.

Sources said Talukder and Power Division Secretary ANH Akhter Hossain have been at loggerheads over implementation of different power projects.

The aggrieved minister told a daily newspaper on Thursday that he was helpless. "Nobody is helping me to resolve the power crisis. I could not implement any decision. The secretary concerned is not working properly," the newspaper quoted him.

On Thursday, he visited the Load Dispatch Centre (LDC) and said the government officials of the power ministry were not working properly.

"I am not satisfied with the way the power crisis has been addressed. I personally believe it should be addressed in a more pragmatic and practical way," he said. "But I am not blaming any individual for that, it's the total system that has failed to deliver according to the expectation of the people," he earlier told The Daily Star on September 20.

The freshly removed state minister for power however apologised to the people for his failure to meet the demand for power as he announced his decision to resign.

His predecessor Iqbal Hassan Mahmood, when on charge of the ministry, said he could not work properly due to intervention by a high profile circle within the PMO.

The inaction and wrong actions of the four-party alliance government have now led the country to daily load shedding of nearly 2,000 megawatts (MW). The country's daily demand for power is 5,200MW while it can only generate between 3,000MW and 3,500MW.

INTERVIEW WITH TALUKDER
"I have taken the decision to resign independently," said the sacked state minister in an interview with The Daily Star last night in his Baily Road residence.

"The decision that I took is very simple," Talukder said adding, "I've been trying my best for the last four months, but failed to meet the expectations of the people, so I decided to resign from the cabinet."

"I think there are persons more skilled and compatible than me ... who could take my place and carry out the responsibilities," said Talukder. "Obviously some persons have the charisma to resolve the crisis."

While asked if he took the decision to resign under pressure, the state minister said, "No, not at all. My conscience made me take the decision. I have found out that it would be selfish if I stick to the post."

In reply to the question, if the decision came following Thursday's countrywide unrest for power, the retired major general said, "It's both yes and no. Yes for I have seen the people suffering for the outages and my conscience could not stand their agony."

The sacked state minister, however, did not explain why he failed to meet the promises he made while taking the portfolio.

In reply, he claimed that the electricity generation was 2,800MW when he took the responsibility and later which even improved to 3,500MW. "I tried my best for power supply and distribution, but could not fulfil the expectations of the people," he added.

"I no longer consider myself the state minister for power, but a lawmaker."

CAREER
Talukder was elected MP in 2001 as a BNP candidate. Before taking the office of the power ministry he was the state minister for planning and finance. He is also a member of the standing committee on defence ministry of the eighth parliament.

He received Secondary School Certificate from Aramnagar High School in 1964 and attended Jagganath College, from which he received Higher Secondary Certificate in 1964. He graduated from Pakistan Military Academy in 1968, obtained a bachelor's degree from Bangladesh National Defence College in 1983 and a master's degree from Indian National Defence College in 1992.

Joining the Bangladesh Army as a commissioned officer, he went abroad on duty serving the country. He served as the director general (DG) of the president's secretariat during the Ershad regime for three years.

He served as the DG of Ansar and Village Defence Forces and also as the chief instructor for Bangladesh Civil Service administrative cadres.

More attacks on Power offices Demonstrations by the people demanding uninterrupted power supply continued yesterday in different regions of the country while police filed cases against about 22,100 unidentified persons in the capital