New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said he was forwarding Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi's resignation to President Pratibha Patil for acceptance and regretted his departure from his council of ministers.
"Dinesh Trivedi presented a good railway budget. I regret his departure from the Cabinet. I am forwarding Trivedi's resignation to the president," the prime minister said, while replying to the President's Address in Parliament.
Trivedi put in his papers on Sunday evening following talk with his Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee after remaining defiant for nearly five days after presenting his first railway budget on Wednesday.
His announcement to hike passenger fare did not go down well with Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress who had since been demanding his ouster as a minister for failing to take Banerjee into confidence.
"We are in a coalition government and would have to seek consensus on all issues. We need to have a consensus as difficult decisions become more difficult as we are running a coalition government," the prime minister said.
Singh said that the new railway minister would be sworn in soon. Banerjee has proposed her trusted lieutenant Mukul Roy as Trivedi's successor.
Trivedi was supposed to attend meeting of the Trinamool Congress lawmakers to be addressed by Banerjee, who is also the West Bengal chief minister, saying he was very much part of the Trinamool Congress though his decision to quit was criticised by the opposition that tried to corner the government terming mid-term resignation of a cabinet minister was unprecedented.
