New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi ended his one year long career as the Railway Minister on Sunday on a turbulent note. Once he was his leader's eyes and ears in Delhi, her bridge with the world she wanted to occupy. Now, the leader controls the aces and the follower has fallen out.
"What is a chair? If Bhagat Singh could sacrifice his life for the country, what's a chair?" Trivedi had said when asked whether he would resign from his post of the Railway Minister as Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee wanted after he hiked railway passenger fares in the Rail Budget 2012.
Trivedi was always the odd man out in a party that based itself in the 'maa maati maanush' philosophy.
Fond of good life, Trivedi was the businessman within the Trinamool fold whereas his party chief, Mamata, thrived on competitive populism. His biggest virtue was that he moved with the changing times.
He started with the Congress in 1980, moved to the Janata Dal in 1990 and finally settled down with Mamata in 1998.
His high point though came only in 2011, when he replaced Mamata as the Rail Minister. He wasn't the first choice for Mamata who was moving on to occupy the Writers' Building in Kolkata. Perhaps his image of being a sharp maneuverer turned to be his own biggest enemy.
As the railways minister, he used his background in finance to create a new vision. In the end, it was his well calculated desire to move away from the populist route which cost him his job.
Mamata's once most trusted aide, Trivedi turned out to be the biggest chink in the Trinamool Congress's armour. His relationship with Mamata had soured over the last few months. The astute businessman in Trivedi used his first and perhaps the last Rail Budget to explore political avenues outside the Trinamool.
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