Pranab to talk to Mamata on demand to sack Trivedi

The Congress core group met at the prime minister's residence late on Wednesday night and weighed options to deal with the demand made by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to sack Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi.

While the group agreed in principle to accept Mamata's demand, it was decided that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would talk to Banerjee and tell her that this would be done after presentation of the general budget on Friday, party sources said.

If Banerjee insists on immediate removal of Trivedi, another meeting of the core group is likely, they added.

The view in Congress is that since the Railway portfolio is with Trinamool Congress, it the prerogative of that party to choose its representative for it.

The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister A K Antony and Gandhi's Political Secretary Ahmed Patel.

Banerjee shot off a letter to the prime minister seeking dismissal of Trivedi and replacing him by her trusted aide Mukul Roy as railway minister.