By IANS,
New Delhi : With opposition parties disrupting Lok Sabha over Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi’s fate Thursday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee chided them saying they were behaving like “petulant children”.
Mukherjee also took responsibility for the railway budget preparation, saying only his approval was required for the railway minister and even the prime minister’s nod was not necessary.
“I am sorry you are behaving like petulant children. Don’t behave like petulant children, behave like leaders,” he told the opposition leaders when they sought to know from the government if Trivedi was still the railway minister and what was the fate of the railway budget he presented a day earlier.
“The railway budget is definitely owned by the government, approved by the finance minister. The prime minister’s approval is not required as far as the railway budget is concerned. Cabinet approval is not required. It is the approval of the finance minister. As finance minister, I own the responsibility,” he told the house.
Mukherjee also clarified that the railway budget was now the property of parliament and it had to decide the fate of the proposals of the government.
“Every member knows that it is their right to approve every proposal in respect of money. This is for the consideration of the house. It is the property of the house,” he said.