By IANS,
New Delhi : The Trinamool Congress Wednesday demanded a roll-back of the fare hike announced by Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, who is from the same party, and hinted at a Congress hand behind the development as Trivedi remained defiant.
“We (read I) had the portfolio of railways. At that time we had done several developmental works. Today the rail fare has been increased we were not aware of it. Our parliamentary party has already opposed it,” Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in Nandigram in East Midnapore district. She was railway minister from May 2009 till last May, before taking over the state’s reins.
“We will not accept the fire hike. We will not allow the fire hike to happen for the sake of the common man… We are totally against it. I can assure you this,” Banerjee said.
In his media interactions, Trivedi seemed in no mood to oblige the party leadership.
“The railways was getting into ICU. I have pulled the railways from ICU. And I have made the railways healthy. I accept full responsibility… I’ve no hesitation in accepting that neither the party nor the leadership was aware of it (the hike).”
In another interview to a channel, Trivedi said for him “the country came first, then the family, and then the party”.
In New Delhi, Trinamool parliamentary party leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said: “We want the government to roll-back the fare hike. It is not in the interest of the common man.”
When asked if the party did not know about the fare hike before the budget was announced, Bandyopadhyay, the minister of state for health, told NDTV: “We maintain constitutional secrecy and the party never discussed anything about the rail budget before it was presented in the Lok Sabha.”
Speaking to another channel, Bandopadhyay, launched a veiled attack on the Congress, its senior partner at the centre and junior partner in West Bengal.
“We are not saying any such thing as of now, but the way the railway minister – who is also our party MP – was wholeheartedly praising the finance department over a small central grant of
Rs.3,000 crore that the railways have received, sounded a bit abnormal. I don’t think so much praise was needed,” said Bandopadhyay.
Asked whether the party felt that Trivedi had increased the fares in return of the central grant, Bandopadhyay said: “I know how much trouble Mamata Banerjee had to face when she needed a Rs.1,000 crore grant from the central government during her tenure as railway minister.”
“But the way the railway minister today praised the centre over allocation of a small grant was not natural. We had heard everything during the budget,” he said.
Asked about Trivedi’s statement that nation comes first and party third, Bandopadhyay said: “It is the party and our supreme leader who had made him railway minister. He is well aware of the pro-people policies of the party. Then how come he could take the decision on a fare hike?”
Another TMC MP, Derek O’Brien, said the government should have only increased the upper class fares.
For mail and express trains, the second class fare increase will be 3 paise per km, for sleeper class 5 paise per km, for AC chair car, AC three tier and first class categories 10 paise per km and for AC two tier category, the increase will be 15 paise per km.
The fare increases are the first in 10 years.