Gloves coming off: Trivedi speaks out against Mamata

When your barber is on your side, why fear your party boss? Dinesh Trivedi’s ministerial days might be numbered but the man is certainly basking in his newfound role of hero. He showed his hometown newspaper The Telegraph 876 text messages of congratulations he’s gotten from people all over the world after his budget bravado. He also got a call from his barber in Calcutta who told him not to worry because God was with him. Trivedi is obviously getting emboldened according to Imran Ahmed Siddiqui who interviewed him for The Telegraph. Although party insiders have said that he had long perceived himself falling out of Didi’s favour, unlike some other dissident Trinamool leaders, Trivedi had never spoken out publicly against Mamata. [caption id=“attachment_246287” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Trivedi might have become the toast of the country, with parliamentarians reaching across the aisles to pat him on the back, but Trinamool leaders are putting forth a united face against him. PTI”]  [/caption] Now the gloves are coming off with a little help from Bengal’s man of all seasons – Rabindranath Tagore. “If the mind is full of fear then one cannot do anything,” said the Railways minister. “What is the point then claiming to have been following Tagore’s principles if the mind is full of fear? Following Tagore’s principles and teachings does not mean only playing Rabindrasangeet at traffic signals.” Rabindrasangeet at traffic signals is a pet project of the CM who is known to quote Tagore at the drop of a hat. Trivedi might have become the toast of the country, with parliamentarians reaching across the aisles to pat him on the back, but Trinamool leaders are putting forth a united face against him. Dinesh-bashing dominated their pre-budget meeting in Kolkata where the incensed Chief Minister refused to even take his name. She just warned her colleagues that no leader should consider themselves above the party. Trivedi had famously said the nation came before the party. One of her ministers told the media that what Trivedi had done was “tantamount to betrayal of the party.” But Mamata feels Trivedi also stabbed her in the back. It was not bad enough that he raised the fares across the board, but he also said that he had to do it to bring the railways out of the ICU. Mamata read that as a direct attack on her since she was his predecessor as the Railways Minister. Mamata is seeing a big conspiracy in the whole Railways budget affair or as one of her MLAs put it “a big game.” The suspicion is that the Congress is behind it. Whether it is or not, the Congress is not unhappy with the PR-battering Mamata’s image is taking and they do not want to end the affair in a hurry even though they will likely eventually accede to her demands. Trivedi is keeping mum about his future plans. According to the media he spent the day shopping for books at Khan Market. One of the books he got – The Rise of Hitler in Parliamentary Democracy. Read what else Dinesh Trivedi told The Telegraph here.