Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has no qualms in mixing economics with politics, which is evident from her reaction to the railway budget, says Renu Mittal.
Dinesh Trivedi, late on Wednesday night, sent his resignation letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, according to television reports. Mukul Roy, minister of state for shipping, who had earlier served in the railway ministry, is expected to take over. The government is also expected to announce a rollback on hike in rail fares.
Trinamool Congress, a key constituent of the United Progressive Alliance, on Thursday opposed the hike in diesel prices, saying it was not consulted about the step and demanded its rollback. "We were not consulted for this and we are unhappy with the decision to hike diesel prices," said Railway Minister Mukul Roy.
Two months after Dinesh Trivedi was removed as railway minister, his party Trinamool Congress continued to target him for hiking passenger fares and advised his successor Mukul Roy on Thursday to follow the policies of Mamata Banerjee in running the organisation. Trivedi was removed from the railway ministry a few days after he presented the rail budget, in which he hiked passenger fares.
Disagreeing with the formula of hike of one paisa or two paisa per km, Mamata said, "In railways there is no travel for a distance of mere one km or two km distance.
A professor of chemistry of the Jadavpur University was arrested on Friday along with his neighbour for allegedly posting a cartoon on a popular social networking site involving West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Railway Minister Mukul Roy and former Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi. He was later released on bail.
The railways are in the process of forming a Rail Tariff Authority but Bansal said the fare rise would be independent of the formation.
Railway passenger fares in all AC classes and first class may rise by 3.6 per cent from July 1 as there are little indications that Finance Ministry would extend service tax exemption to Railways beyond this month.
The Trinamool Congress expects the Congress leadership to keep its "word" on removal of Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi even as he asserted that Railways is nobody's fiefdom.
Incumbent Hamid Ansari is the United Progressive Alliance's candidate for the Vice President's post and he is all set to get a second consecutive term.
Observing that freight charges cannot keep subsidising the passenger fare, Trivedi said, "One thing is linked with another and you cannot keep on increasing your freight charges and freight cannot keep on subsidising the fare."
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday held parleys with some Union ministers and senior party leaders amid indications of a Cabinet reshuffle.
Allies and opposition parties tonight attacked the government over the hike in diesel prices saying it will further hit the common man and demanded an immediate rollback.
Amid differences among allies, the government today deferred a decision on the changes in the crucial Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011.
Key United Progressive Alliance allies Trinamool Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Saturday mounted pressure on the Centre to rollback the steep hike in petrol price with Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee leading a street march in Kolkata against the government of which her party is a part.
The Trinamool Congress, which has asked Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi to quit his post, on Saturday rejected his demand that party supremo Mamata Banerjee should say so in writing to him. "Nothing will be given in writing," Trinamool Congress parliamentary party leader in Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhay told reporters when he was leaving the state secretariat with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after a meeting which lasted over three hours.
Trinamool Congress ministers have sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for submitting their resignation on Friday. Railway Minister Mukul Roy on Thursday said that an appointment has been sought from the prime minister at 3 pm on Friday.
Threadbare discussion & political consensus is required over the Bill: Railway Minister.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday called up Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee after which the key United Progressive Alliance ally decided to attend a meeting of the ruling coalition in Delhi on July 14.
After slamming the Centre for the steep hike in petrol price, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday hit the streets in Kolkata, leading a massive protest march to put pressure on the United Progressive Alliance government for a roll-back. Banerjee, who was accompanied by Railway Minister Mukul Roy, party functionaries and thousands of Trinamool Congress workers, marched from Jadavpur to Hazra crossing, a distance of five km in south Kolkata.
Even as Mukul Roy took the oath of office as railway minister in the presence of a sombre-looking Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, whose body language showed the discomfort of the Congress with its ally Trinamool Congress which has given them a run around, the United Progressive Alliance managers were sighing with relief on Tuesday, says Neerja Chowdhury.
Attacking the prime minister over the removal of Dinesh Trivedi, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said if the former railways minister was sacked due to the increase in fares, the role of the prime minister and finance minister should also be questioned in the whole episode. Trivedi, who had presented the Rail Budget on Wednesday, was replaced by Trinamool Congress with Mukul Roy after party chief Mamata Banerjee opposed the increase in rail fares.
Marking the anniversary of the end of the 34-year-old Communist Party of India - Marxist rule in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, flanked by her supporters, on Sunday took out a march and claimed that her government had fulfilled most of its poll promises.
Despite getting a bigger-than-sought package from the central government for West Bengal and despite the Congress refraining from putting up a candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections from the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has made up her mind that she will continue to oppose most of the central government bills, projects and schemes.
A youth was arrested in Malda district of West Bengal on the charge of making a derogatory remark against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Facebook.
Trivedi's resignation came amidst the exodus from Mamata Banerjee's party ahead of the West Bengal assembly poll.
RJD president Lalu Prasad on Thursday said Railway Budget has cheated people as it has nothing to offer.
Two political parties having two members in the Jharkhand assembly merged with the Trinamool Congress in Ranchi on Monday.
Spinner Shams Mulani (5/71) and Himanshu Singh (4/77) wreaked havoc by sharing nine wickets between them as defending champions Mumbai crushed Odisha.
'The BJP's modus operandi is not just to be intolerant of dissent, it is to create mistrust and doubt between communities and the electoral process itself.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee could be staring at troubled times ahead as the Saradha scam trail seemingly leads up to her doorstep.
A promotion promised six years back hasn't come through even now and the sponsors also never quite warmed up to him but Olympic-bound boxer Manoj Kumar says his stubborn streak prevented him from quitting the sport during what seemed like a never-ending dark phase.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held deliberations with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda amid speculation about a reshuffle in the Union cabinet, an exercise Modi has not undertaken since forming the government for a second time in May 2019.
The BJP has invited them to take part in Modi's swearing-in on Thursday as a 'gesture of showing respect to our martyrs', a senior leader of the saffron party said.
Saurashtra's veteran left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja bagged his 22nd five-wicket haul as the defending champions scored an innings and 243-run victory against Manipur to move into the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals from Group A in Rajkot on Sunday.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Sunday alleged that Dinesh Trivedi, who resigned from the Rajya Sabha on Friday, took the 'House for a ride' and was 'allowed' to use the floor of the House for his 'devious political ends'.
'The more you challenge her, the more powerful she gets'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday termed the hike in rail fares as "unprecedented and anti-people" and demanded its roll back in the interest of common people.
Trinamool Congress's slogan of 'Satatar Pratik' (symbol of honesty) has been challenged by BJP's slogan, 'Gali, gali mein shor hai, Mamata Banerjee chor hai'.
With a substantially weakened Left Front and the Congress, political observers say the anti-Trinamool vote will go to the BJP.
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