Trivedi fiasco: Way forward

It is for the first time in Indian parliamentary history that a railway minister was forced resign after presenting the railway budget in the house.

The situation has raised a storm of speculations about the fate of rail budget. The stance of Trinamool Congress and the opposition does not seem friendly to the UPA-2.

The pertinent questions now being raised are: will there be a rollback? Will the UPA government complete its full term? The list of speculations is endless.

Speaking to TSI online on the fate of rail budget, Dr. Subhash Kashyap, an expert on constitution affairs said, “If we keep the constitution in view, this is not a major issue. In such a situation, the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to take the budget forward. Any minister, or the finance minister could come forward for the debate in the house. There may be amendments and cut motion but it is too early to speculate a no confidence motion. However, if there is a no confidence motion and the government does not achieve the minimum numbers then it will have to go”.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee forced Barrackpore MP Dinesh Trivedi to resign after he hiked passenger fares across the board.

“This has happened for the first time and thus the constitution does not say anything about it. If Dinesh Trivedi would have resigned right before presenting the railway budget, things would have been more serious and complicated. Since, he resigned after making the presentation, the railway budget remains valid. However, once the railway budget is presented in both the house, the opposition's reaction would really matter a lot. Overall, the government is treading a difficult path and a rollback can not be written-off,” said, Suvrokamal Dutta, an expert on economic affairs.

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee reached Delhi to meet her party MPs with an intention discuss plan to roll back the passenger fares. It is also said that the plan to roll back fares might face stiff opposition from rail unions that have threatened to launch agitation over rollback.