Under fire from his own Trinamool Congress members for having increased railway fares, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi today justified his move even as sources said that party chief Mamata Banerjee had asked him to roll back the fare hike or resign.
A defiant Trivedi, however, dismissed the idea of quitting, saying that he was ‘not afraid of God’ and would not roll back railway fare hike at the cost of compromising passenger safety, while speaking to a television channel.
News reports suggest that the railway minister might resign tonight.
Trivedi also said that he had not consulted Mamata Banerjee before proposing the fare hike, confirming the TMC leader’s outburst against the increase in fares.
Mamata is reported to have said that she will not accept the proposed fare hike and will not allow it to come into effect.
Striking a slightly conciliatory tone, Trivedi said that Mamata never interfered in his working.
For the record, this is the first time that passenger rail fares have been proposed to be increased in almost a decade.
Barely minutes after the Railway Minister and TMC MP 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.
“We had the portfolio of railways. At that time we had done several developmental works. Today the rail fare has been increased we were not aware of it. Our parliamentary party has already opposed it,” Banerjee said in Nandigram today.
“We will not accept the fire hike. We will not allow the fire hike to happen for the sake of the common man… We are totally against it. I can assure you this,” Banerjee said.
TV reports suggested that Mamata has said that the railway budget cannot be passed with the support of the Trinamool Congress.
Trivedi’s justification — that the rail fare hike has been proposed to take care of the rising expenses on security and modernization of the railways and to provide better amenities to passengers – did not go down well with his own party members.
Other party members too raised a war cry against Trivedi’s proposals.
Trinamool Congress MP S Bandopadhyay, criticizing Trivedi’s budget, said that party was not consulted before the railway minister presented the budget.
Another party MP, former quiz-master Derek O’Brien too blasted his colleague for the fare hike on Twitter, saying: ‘Railway Budget…what was all that about increasing fares across the board? Upper class…maybe ok…but all? Sorry, cannot agree.’
Meanwhile, the Congress has called it a budget for all, with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee describing it as ‘positive’.
Stating that people will happily accept modest hikes in rail fares, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said empathised with Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi who was put on notice by his party Trinamool Congress for raising passenger fares.
‘All said and done, I’d hate to be in Dinesh Trivedi’s shoes today. Today was supposed to be the highlight of his political career. Poor chap,’ Abdullah said on Twitter.
The chief minister added: ‘We take populism to ridiculous levels. I genuinely believe people would happily accept the modest hike if safety and quality of service better.’
—-Agencies