Ruling Indian Government Trembles - Indian Railway Minister Under Fire Over Train Fare Hikes

17.03.2012

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's coalition government is in the throes of a developing political crisis, with a key ally pushing for the ouster of the Railway Minister for raising passenger fares for the first time in a decade.
Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi took political centre stage after presenting the railway budget which his own party, the Trinamool Congress, promptly called 'anti-people'. The party said the hike should be scrapped and Trivedi should go.
Trivedi said the fare increases in the railway budget - which still needs to be passed by Parliament - were necessary to improve rail safety, a rising cause of concern. There were 1,406 rail accidents in the last decade.
"I will not run away from my duties. Nobody has asked for my resignation. The moment my leader Mamata Banerjee or the Prime Minister asks for my resignation I will do so," said Trivedi yesterday, scotching speculation that he had already been sacked, a sign his party was no longer directly communicating with him.
The Trinamool's firm stand against a budget praised by Dr Singh's office as 'forward looking' underscores the problems within the Premier's United Progressive Alliance. The party is already under pressure from the DMK, a southern ally, to vote against the Sri Lankan government and back an American resolution in the United Nations Human Rights Council to censure Sri Lanka for alleged human rights abuses.