New Delhi, Mar 19: The haze over the status of Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, after he was disowned by his own party Trinmool Congress on the issue of hike in train fares in the Budget, was cleared by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh during the course of his reply to the President’s address in Parliament on Monday.
 Bowing to the Opposition pressure that the Government should come clear on the issue and take the House into confidence, Dr Singh announced that Trivedi had quit on Sunday night. He confirmed that the resignation has been accepted and forwarded to the President.
 The development took place yesterday as the party chief Ms Mamta Banerjee was on her way to the Capital from Kolkata to tide over the crisis. Trivedi’s place in the Railway Ministry will be taken by his party colleague Mukul Roy. He will take oath of office on Tuesday morning before reply to the Railway Budget commences in Lok Sabha.
 However, the mercurial Banerjee did not take the things lying low even while in Parliament House. She immediately retorted to Dr Singh’s statement that he regretted Trivedi’s departure from the Union Cabinet. “PM’s remarks reflect a personal opinion and one that her party does not share,” she observed.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 IST