Rail Minister Dinesh Trivedi resigns, Mukul Roy will replace him

Railway Minister Mr. Dinesh Trivedi have resigned, He has sent his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this morning. Mukul Roy will replace him as party chief Mamata Banerjee wants him to be the new rail minister after the firing of Trivedi. Roy is presently in Delhi to join Trinamool Congress MPs on a dharna to demand a total rollback of the train fares. Dinesh Trivedi have presented his first railway budget yesterday.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had asked the prime minister to fire as Trivedi justified his proposals to increase fares and remained defiant. This is the first time that passenger rail fares have been proposed to be increased in almost a decade.

Dinesh Trivedi had announced a hike in passenger fares across all classes, his own party had blasted him for the proposals. Mamata Banerjee said that the TMC had not been informed about the rail fare hike.

Trivedi offered resignation after his own party, the Trinamool Congress, termed across-the-board passenger fare hikes as a “hostile act”.

Dinesh Trivedi said that he had not consulted Mamata Banerjee before proposing the fare hike.

The 61-year-old railway minister had maintained that whatever he had done was in the interest of the Railways and the country and that he was not worried out the loss of his job.

Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay, said that another name for railway minister might be proposed. He also said the party will move cut motion against the fare hike.

The Congress leaders ware met at the prime minister’s residence late Wednesday, The had asked Pranab Mukherjee to tell Mamata that decision on Trivedi’s replacement could be taken after Friday.