Mukul Roy is New Indian Railway Minister

Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy has sworn in as new Indian Railway Minister on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, replacing Dinesh Trivedi, who was forced to resign after Congress caved in to Mamata Banerjee’s pressure.

Mukul Roy, minister of state for shipping, took the oath of office and secrecy on Tuesday morning as cabinet minister at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The ceremony was attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the UPA chairperson and cabinet ministers including ministers of Trinamool Congress. Several union ministers and leaders from other political parties were present at the ceremony headed by President Pratibha Patil.

Trivedi had to resign after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee opposed the hike in passenger fares announced by him in the rail budget presented in parliament last week.