The ouster of Dinesh Trivedi: who will write that letter?

If anyone seems to be over-exercised about Dinesh Trivedi’s rail fare hike, it’s Mamata Banerjee. Neither is Trivedi resigning on his own, despite being labelled a traitor, nor is the PM siding with her on the matter. Trivedi has meanwhile stood form on the demand that he will step down only if Mamata sends him a letter asking him to do so. Mamata, however, wants the PM to get his hands dirty on this one and is not willing to pen down her decision on Trivedi.

So the question remains: who will write that letter?

The Congress had on 16 March called Trivedi’s leaving an internal matter of the TMC. But the real reason Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not giving in to Mamata’s demand is the man-in-waiting for the Railways berth – Mukul Roy. The DNA says , The PM has been reluctant to even offer Roy a Cabinet berth, let alone a key ministry, ever since he scored a blank last year when Singh asked him about his vision for the Railways.

And the real reason didi is passing the buck, according to the report is this:

“because she is afraid that evicting a defiant railway minister might snowball into her throwing him out from the party, in which case Trivedi would survive as an MP for the remaining two years of the Lok Sabha term without having to obey the party whip. He would enjoy the luxury of conducting himself as an unattached MP.

If Trivedi can be made to lose his Cabinet berth without affecting his primary membership of the party, he has to obey party whip and discipline.”

And didi cannot not be in control.

Meanwhile, Trivedi is delighting in Mamata’s paranoia and banking on the PM’s disinterest, as he hands out a quote a day. He reiterated yesterday, “On the floor of the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandopadhyay (Leader of the parliamentary party) said Trinamool Congress has not asked for my resignation. I do not know which is correct. So, it is better to avoid the confusion. It is best that she should write me a letter asking me to resign and I will definitely abide by her decision,” Trivedi said.

Ironically, the Banerjee’s move was supposedly to help the common man. But it is now the common man who is vouching for the railway minister.