PM intervenes to settle railways-I&B office dispute

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had to step in to resolve a renewed office space row in parliament building between the railway and the information and broadcasting ministers on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had to step in to resolve a renewed office space row in Parliament building between the railway and the information and broadcasting ministers on Wednesday.

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Singh’s intervention finally settled the issue in favour of railway minister Dinesh Trivedi, averting a new chill in the relationship between the Congress and its biggest partner, the Trinamool Congress.

On Wednesday Trivedi found his office in room no. 6 in the parliament building reoccupied by the I&B ministry. On Tuesday, he had managed to avoid his ouster from the room with the help of finance and parliamentary affairs ministers.

Trivedi wasted no time to inform party boss Mamata Banerjee about this “humiliation by Congress.” Banerjee asked her party colleagues to talk directly to the PM.

The PM came into the picture after Trinamool’s chief whip and minister of state for health Sudip Bandopadhyay rushed to him. According to Bandopadhyay, “PM was surprised and unaware about these developments. He assured the issue will be settled.”

Later, Trivedi stopped the PM on his way out of the parliament to inform him about the office woes. Singh repeated his assurance and later asked Pawan Kumar Bansal to settle the dispute. Banerjee also spoke to Bansal from Kolkata.