'I resigned because my party wanted me to quit': Dinesh Trivedi

New Delhi, Mar 21 (ANI): Former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, who was shown the exit door by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) after he invited the wrath of his party chief Mamata Banerjee over the increase in fares in the railway budget, on Wednesday stated he stood by his party's decision on his resignation.

"The basic reason why I resigned was because my party wanted me to quit. Since I have no attachment to the position and Mamata Banerjee wanted me to resign, I put in my papers," said Trivedi.

Trivedi, who resigned on Sunday, had, however, been lauded by the Prime Minister, Cabinet colleagues and industry for his bold budget, in which he announced an increase in train passenger fares, the first in nine years.

"I was quite confident that the Prime Minster would never ask for my resignation. It was decided that Prime Minister never wanted this to happen as he had no reason for it," he added.

Trivedi had, however, in an interview to a leading news channel on Tuesday said the decision to sack him was a pre-planned decision taken by the Trinamool Congress, and had nothing to do with the fare hike.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Whip Kalyan Banerjee defended his party's stand on Trivedi's resignation issue, asserting that members of the coalition should have been consulted before deciding to hike rail fares.

"The statement, which was already given by Mamata day before yesterday in Delhi itself, regarding that statement already given by Mamata, if you want to run a coalition government, you must consult the coalition parties before you take your decision," said Banerjee.

"That is not being done. If he has...but he has to do it before taking any decision, which really have a far-reaching effect. They must take the consent and consult with the coalition parties and take the decision," he added.

Banerjee further said Trivedi had not consulted anyone with regards to his budget.

"He admitted before the press that he did not have the consultation with anybody on the day the budget was presented. Number one, number two, the Railway Ministry did not run from the Writer's Building (seat of Government in West Bengal state), he said so. Therefore, if he said so, then it is an afterthought statement," he added.

Another TMC leader Mukul Roy has now been elevated to the cabinet rank to take over as Railway Minister replacing Trivedi. (ANI)