New Delhi:
A day after he proposed a fare hike in the rail budget which has threatened his job, a defiant Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi today said he would repeat the same if he was asked to present the budget again.
Mr Trivedi, who Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has demanded to be sacked, also said that neither has he been contacted by Ms Banerjee nor he has spoken to her yet.
"I would do the same if I am asked to present the budget again," Mr Trivedi told reporters in New Delhi.
Mr Trivedi has in his budget proposed up to 20 per cent passenger fare hike in the rail budget for 2012-13, inviting the wrath of the Trinamool Congress chief who has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to sack him.
When it was pointed out that the fare hike proposals were contrary to his party's policy, he said "I have done it for the Railways and the country...not for party. If I have to please my party, then I am not doing my work."
On the possibility of a rollback of the hike in fares, Mr Trivedi said "the budget is in Parliament and I will be guided by Parliament. Parliament will be guided by the wisdom of people."
Referring to Lokpal, he said "why Lokpal has come? Because of the wisdom of the people. If Parliament tells me to cut down, then I will say okay I am cutting down on safety. But then do not blame me if something happens on safety."
Mr Trivedi said he is inspired by the great poet Rabindranath Tagore, one of whose poems reads "where the mind is without fear and the head is held high. It is all symbolic."
In an apparent dig at Ms Banerjee without naming her, Mr Trivedi said "what is the point of having Tagore's music at traffic junctions and not following him?"
Ms Banerjee, after becoming Chief Minister, has ensured playing of Tagore's songs at key traffic intersections in Kolkata.
"I want to carry myself with dignity. I follow the teachings of Tagore. That is why I invoke Tagore. My mind is without fear and head is held high", said the Railway Minister.
"I am receiving congratulatory messages from people from every walk of life across the country for the rail budget", Mr Trivedi claimed.