Reference Auto

After eight years, railway fares have finally gone up and is it because of Mamata Banerjee’s “mismanagement of her party affairs” that led to Dinesh Trivedi defecting the Trinamool or is it a new political drama Mamata is scripting to keep the government on the tenterhooks and derail the railway budget?

There is a view that the Congress could have given the green light to Trivedi to go ahead with the fare hike. And, if he is sacked (which he has been), the Congress may have promised to accommodate him (may be a while later).

On the other hand, it is also felt that Mamata and her partymen (and Trivedi) could have discussed this hike but she may have asked her partymen to protest to let another drama unfold in Parliament.

In the first increase in eight years, the Union railway minister proposed to hike passenger fares ranging from two paise to 30 paise per km, which is quite reasonable.

Express train fares had gone up by 5 paise per km, 10 paise per km in case of a/c chair car, 10 paise per km for a/c three-tier, 15 paise per km for a/c two-tier and 30 paise per km for a/c first class.

Moreover, platform tickets would now cost Rs 5. So, someone travelling from Kolkata to Mumbai by three-tier a/c Gitanjali Express would have to shell out around Rs 200 extra. Does it not sound okay after almost a decade?

Even the aam janata or the public at large are of the view that it’s high time for a fare hike and social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have been abuzz with statements that have hailed Trivedi as a hero while hitting out at Mamata for playing politics with one of the biggest national events – the railway budget.

So, after the railway minister quits, what happens to the railway budget? The Prime Minister will probably take control and pass it in Parliament.

This could lead to a showdown with the Tranamool (while trying to pass the railway budget).

The government (read Congress) has decided not to budge from its stand (of a fare hike) while the Trinamool as well as its arch enemy the CPM will probably be together along with the BJP to protest the fare hike.

So, will Mamata’s move to sack Dinesh Trivedi actually derail the railway budget?

If the government fails to garner adequate numbers in Parliament with regard to the railway budget, will it mean that Mukul Roy will have to take charge as minister and announce a fresh budget with a fare rollback?

Well, if this happens, it will be another big slap on the face of the Congress, especially after it lost face in the recent assembly polls in states like UP, Punjab and Goa.

So, does this mean that Mamata is actually derailing the government rather than the railway budget?