The political storm in the United Progressive Alliance government over Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi issue on Thursday gave an opportunity to the Bharatiya Janata Party to charge that the government is short of number and is shying away from facing the amendments to the President's address in Parliament.
The Congress on Thursday sought to downplay the Dinesh Trivedi episode, saying it is an internal affair of the government and it could not be discussed outside.
PMO officials said while they had got a request from Trinamool Congress MPs for a meeting with the PM, no letter recommending Trivedi's replacement had been received till late Wednesday night.
The Congress core group met at the prime minister's residence late on Wednesday night and weighed options to deal with the demand made by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to sack Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi.
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.
Railway investment in the 12th Plan to be Rs 7.35 lakh crore
Train fares have been hiked by 5 paise per km for Sleeper Class, Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi announced on Wednesday.
Deepak Parekh, HDFC Bank Chairman, M S Verma, former SBI Chairman, Raghuram, Professor IIM, Ahmedabad, Rajiv Lal, IDFC MD and Vinayak Chatterjee, Feedback, Infrastructure Services Chairman are members of the committee.
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Wednesday said investigation into the train collision which left nine persons dead would go into all details to ensure such mishaps do not recur, but said it was "too early to blame anybody".
Preliminary investigation into the train accident at Sitheri has found that it took place due to over-speeding of the Electric Multiple Unit train, which rammed into a stationary train, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi said on Wednesday.
Dinesh Trivedi, a member of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, says, "Our government is seriously bothered about Anna's health. Why is Team Anna not requesting Annaji to break his fast, even once? I believe the government is more worried about Anna's health than even Team Anna."
Trinamool politics set to trump prudence on passenger fares.
The Railways Minister arrived in New Delhi on Thursday morning for a meeting with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other members of Parliament to discuss ways for expansion of railway facilities in MP.
The IT capital's much awaited Bangalore's metro rail service, 'Namma Metro' will start operations from 20 October, 2011.
If a minister does not have the freedom of expression, it is anything but democracy. It is a sad day for the very foundations of Indian democracy, former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi tells Neerja Chowdhury
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.
After a five-day waiting game, Railways Minister Dinesh Tiwari has resigned, according to Trinamool Congress sources. Tiwari met with TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, and expressed his willingness to quit.
"I have already said whatever I have had to say. Now the government has to decide. Mukul Roy will be our candidate for the Railway minister," Mamata said during the filing of nominations for Rajya Sabha elections by Roy, the Union minister of state for Shipping, and three others.
In an interview with Business Standard, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi says if there is no rise in fares, the Indian Railways would come to a grinding halt.
A team of Trinamool Congress Members of Parliament met Railway Minister and party colleague Dinesh Trivedi soon after he presented the Railway Budget in which he proposed to hike fares across all classes.
The Indian Railways will borrow Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) from the market through its dedicated financing arm IRFC in the 2012-13 fiscal, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi said on Wednesday.
India Inc welcomed the Railway Budget by describing it as "balanced" focused on passenger safety and infrastructure modernisation.
Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi in his maiden Budget announced passenger amenities worth Rs Rs 1,112 crore in 2012-13 as against Rs 762 crore in current year.
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi present the Railway Budget on Wednesday.
The Rail Budget to be presented tomorrow may continue with the practice of not raising the fares and freight rates but the possibility of imposition of a safety cess may not be ruled out, at least on the higher class fares.
The loss of a few states for Congress in the assembly elections does not warrant mid-term polls to the Lok Sabha, Union Minister Farooq Abdullah said in Coimbatore on Friday.
Asserting that Trinamool will not rock the United Progressive Alliance boat, party leader and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi went into damage control mode on Thursday after his remarks that the country may head for a mid-term poll and the Union government was lame duck created a flutter in political circles.
Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has said that there could be an early election in view of the mandate that Samjwadi Party got in Uttar Pradesh.
Despite Indian Railways' dwindling financial health, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Wednesday showed disinclination towards hiking passenger fares. Instead, he advocated measures to attract private investment to tide over the situation.
"The Railways today has become a mess," former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi told rediff.com as he spoke about the fire on the Tamil Nadu Express that claimed 37 lives in the wee hours of Monday. "Cancer has set in the Railways years back. It's like a disease that has never been treated and hence people continue to die."
A fracture in the rail line was responsible for the Howrah-Kalka Mail accident that claimed 70 lives last month, the preliminary report submitted to Railway Ministry, claimed.
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Tuesday said he was planning to set up an independent safety and security board to strengthen passenger and freight security.
New Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Tuesday night faced protest from family members of the passengers injured in the Kalka Mail accident and was also heckled as he visited a hospital in Fatehpur.
Soon after he takes oath as Railways minister on Tuesday, Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi will be heading to Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh where a train derailed two days ago, killing 68 people
A reshuffle in the Union Council of Ministers is scheduled for Tuesday evening at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The swearing-in has been fixed for 5 pm. Trinamool Congress' Dinesh Trivedi is likely to get the railways portfolio. The portfolios of a number of ministers are likely to be changed, including civil aviation, currently with Vayalar Ravi, and law, which is with Veerappa Moily. Minister Beni Prasad Verma from Uttar Pradesh is likely to be promoted to the Cabinet rank.
The Trinamool Congress is not happy with the government's move to put on hold its decision to allow Foreign Direct Investment in retail and insisted that FDI should be rolled back.
'Hundreds of thousands of people who earn their livelihood from the 12 million existing retail outlets may be put out of business by Big Retail,' says Bhavdeep Kang.
Rahul said it is clear that things are "not normal" in Jammu and Kashmir.
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."
This was on the expected lines after Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee played a major role in getting the former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi resign.
