TC wants Trivedi out of LS as well; he wants it in writing

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi's problems appeared to have compounded on Saturday with members of his party, the Trinamool Congress asking him to vacate his parliamentary seat.

Trivedi's party has been gunning for his head ever since he announced hike in passenger fares in the Rail Budget 2012-13 presented on Wednesday.

Highly-placed sources told rediff.com that almost 10 MPs had called Dinesh Trivedi to convey to him that resigning from the Railway minister's post was not enough and that he should also vacate his Lok Sabha membership.

The MPs alleged that Trivedi, who was elected on a Trinamool ticket from Barrackpore in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, was a traitor.

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Meanwhile, reports emerged on Saturday that Trivedi had asked Mamata to give the resignation order in writing.

However, Lok Sabha Trinamool chief whip Kalyan Banerjee told him that it was not fair on his part to insist on party directive in writing, pointing out that when he became a minister he had not insisted in writing about it from the party leader Mamata.

Banerjee said he told Trivedi that as a party man he should understand the situation and make the exit graciously when the party does not want him to remain as a minister.

After Trivedi presented his maiden Rail Budget, party supremo Mamata Banerjee had shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his dismissal and replacement with her trusted aide Mukul Roy. 

The development came after the party put Trivedi on notice that it may replace him if he does not rollback the hike in passenger fares proposed by him in the Rail Budget 2012. However, Trivedi stuck to his guns saying he has done his duty and he was not afraid of losing his job. 

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