Trinamool Congress MP and former Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy took oath as the new Railway Minister at the Rashtrapati Bhawan Tuesday.
Roy replaced Dinesh Trivedi as the Railway Minister after the latter was forced to resign by his party members, including Trinamool Party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, for hiking passenger fares in the Railway Budget. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepted Roy as the new Railway Minister.
Roy was the general secretary of the Trinamool Congress before taking up the Railway Ministry. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2006 and is known for his loyalty to Mamata Banerjee.
Trivedi resigned as the Railway Minister Sunday evening after speaking to Trinamool Congress party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
He received lot of flaks from his party colleagues for presenting a bold Railway Budget March 16 wherein he hiked passenger fares across all classes ranging from two paise to 30 paise per km, the first hike in a decade.
Angry over the fare hike, Mamata sent a fax to Prime Minister, asking him to sack Trivedi immediately.
