KOLKATA: Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi may have earned the ire of West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, but has won accolades from veteran parliamentarian and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.
Speaking to Express Chatterjee said that Trivedi had earned his respect. “I don’t know how much his Budget will be successful, but I want to say that I appreciate his remark that he has put the country before the party and that sentiment has appealed to me. I express my respect to him.” In 2008, Chatterjee had similarly refused to toe the CPM party line to step down as the Lok Sabha Speaker and voted against the government in the crucial no-confidence motion. “I felt that I was the Speaker of the House and not of a particular party.
“I had the responsibility to Parliament and I knew that I should not be seen to be dictated by the party and therefore I said sorry I cannot do this. I may have been right or wrong. My party thought I was wrong,” Chatterjee added.