PM regrets Trivedi's departure from rail ministry

Announcing the resignation of Dinesh Trivedi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he regretted the departure of the railway minister who had presented a budget which promised the "vision" outlined by his predecessor Mamata Banerjee.

Singh, who was forced by the Trinamool Congress chief to remove Trivedi from the Cabinet after he proposed rail fare hike in the budget, said a new railway minister will be sworn in soon.

"I received late last night an email message followed by a formal letter from Dinesh Trivedi tendering his resignation as railway minister," the prime minister told the Lok Sabha while replying to the debate on motion of thanks to the president's address.

He said he would forward the letter to the president with the recommendation to accept the resignation.

"I regret the departure of Shri Trivedi," he observed.

Singh said Trivedi had "presented a railway budget that had promised to carry out the Vision 2020 outlined by his predecessor," apparently referring to Mamata.

Banerjee had outlined the Vision 2020 two years back as a blueprint for modernising the railways.

"A new railway minister will be sworn in shortly. He will have the onerous duty of carrying forward the challenging task of modernising our railway system," Singh said.