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New Delhi: The Congress seems to be hardening its stand on Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's diktat to remove Dinesh Trivedi as the Railway Minister. The Congress on Thursday conveyed to Mamata that Trivedi should stay on as the Railway Minister till the end of the Budget Session.
Congress leaders pointed out to Mamata that sacking a minister mid session and swearing in another person would not send out a good signal. Sources told CNN-IBN that Congress leaders told Mamata that it would be better if the change of guard is carried out during the three-week break from March 31 to April 23 in the Budget Session.
Congress leaders told Mamata that they understood the pressure on her from her MLAs and MPs to act against Trivedi for announcing the increase in passenger fares in the Railway Budget. Mamata is likely to get back to the Congress after consulting her party leaders.
At a meeting in Kolkata on Thursday, as many as 185 Trinamool MLAs backed Mamata's decision to sack Trivedi. While addressing the meeting Mamata declared that no one was above party discipline and claimed that Trivedi did not consult her or Trinamool General Secretary Mukul Roy while finalising the Railway Budget.
Manmohan Singh is also expected to speak to Mamata before taking a final call on Trivedi, who is yet to submit his resignation despite being severely criticised by his own party colleagues for the hike in passenger fares.
Earlier, Trivedi said that he had not put in his papers but would resign the moment the Prime Minister or Mamata asked him to do.
"No one has sought my resignation till now. My job is to get the Budget passed in Parliament. I have a duty to get the Railway Budget passed. This is my prime duty. The moment my honourable leader Mamata Banerjee or the Prime Minister asks me I will resign," said Trivedi.
Trivedi said he would also answer questions related to the Railway Budget in Parliament and added that he was grateful to the nation for the support that he had received for his budget. "I am getting messages from all over the world and I am truly touched," said the Railway Minister.
The Prime Minister also denied receiving Trivedi's resignation and said that he would consider it when the situation arises.
Adding to the confusion over Trivedi's fate was Trinamool Congress parliamentary party chief in the Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
Bandyopadhyay made contradictory statements over Trivedi's resignation leading to speculations over what exactly his party desired.
"Trinamool Congress has never asked the minister to resign. The UPA will complete its tenure. There is no threat to the government. The issue will be settled between the government and the Trinamool Congress," said Bandyopadhyay.
However, just a few minutes earlier, Bandyopadhyay had addressed the media outside Parliament and said that a new railway minister would be appointed in place of Trivedi and it was the prerogative of the Trinamool Congress to decide who would get the portfolio.
Mamata had asked the Prime Minister on Wednesday night to sack Trivedi for announcing an across-the-board increase in passenger fares in the Railway Budget.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that no resignation letter has been received by the Prime Minister's Office.
The West Bengal Chief Minister shot off a letter to the Prime Minister on Wednesday night seeking the dismissal of Trivedi and replacing him by her trusted aide Mukul Roy as Railway Minister after the former presented a bold budget on Wednesday. She made it clear that she would not allow the hike in passenger fares and demanded complete rollback.
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