Dinesh Trivedi gone, what will happen to his budget?

With the resignation of Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, what happens to the budget that he presented to Parliament on Wednesday?

According to a former secretary-general of the Lok Sabha, the next person to be appointed Railway Minister would need to ensure that the budget delivered on Wednesday is passed by Parliament.

“The railway budget is the property of the House now. The new minister will take further steps,” former Lok Sabha secretary-general PDT Achary was quoted as saying in the Hindustan Times.

Mukul Roy, who could be the next Railway Minister and could be sworn in on 17 March, can announce a roll back in the passenger fares during the debate on the budget in Parliament.

However, in the absence of a Railway Minister, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be in charge of ensuring that the Budget is passed by the Parliament.

Congress MPs are reportedly meeting with Finance Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday to decide the future course of action in Parliament and the BJP is expected to demand a statement from the government on Mamata Banerjee’s decision to remove Trivedi from his post.

However, this would be perhaps the first time that a Railway Minister has been removed from his post before the budget he delivered could be passed by Parliament.

Trivedi had delivered his maiden railway budget before Lok Sabha on Wednesday in which he had raised passenger fares, a move that was opposed by members of his Trinamool Congress.

After initial opposition by TMC MPs, party chief Mamata Banerjee announced during a rally in West Bengal that they would not allow any hike in fares and wrote to the Prime Minister asking for Trivedi to be replaced. Trivedi soon placed his resignation before the Prime Minister.