New Delhi, Mar 19 (ANI): Commenting on the intense political drama over Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi’s decision to hike passenger fares in the railway budget, and his decision to resign on Sunday after a four-day stand-off with the Trinamool Congress leadership, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja said the central government had succumbed to vagaries of coalition politics.
“The resignation of Dinesh Trivedi was demanded by the Trinamool Congress Party on the issue of the hiking of passenger and freight charges in the railway budget. If that is so, whether the Prime Minister, the government, is agreeable to roll back the hike, which has been made and proposed by Dinesh Trivedi in his budget. These are some of the questions which the Prime Minister will have to answer,” Raja told media here.
“The Prime Minister will have to explain not only to parliament, but also to the public outside. So, it is an unprecedented situation that the Congress-led UPA-II Government is really suffering from a loss of moral authority. It has been facing setbacks one after another due to its own internal contradictions,” he added.
“The railway budget has already been presented in parliament. It has become the property of the parliament, property of both houses of parliament, since the minister has resigned even before a discussion of the budget could start. It is for the Prime Minister to explain; Prime Minister being the head of the government, the head of the council of ministers. Now, he is in charge of the Railway Ministry,” added Raja.
eanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has lost its credibility.
“This kind of situation is bound to happen for a government whose Prime Minister is on ‘deputation’ and his ministers are without any ‘reputation’. The UPA means ‘Ulta Pulta’ alliance, whose days are numbered but unfortunately this handicapped government is limping on borrowed crutches. Neither is this for the benefit of the country nor its progress. In the current streak of events in the country the government has lost its face and credibility completely. Not only amidst its allies but also the common people,” said Naqvi. (ANI)