March 17: If the worst irritant for a boss is the mirth of a minion, who is enjoying every minute of his last days at work, Mamata Banerjee had a bad day in office today.

Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi today stonewalled a Trinamul diktat delivered over phone to resign immediately, hurled back reasoning based on Parliament’s supremacy and insisted that Mamata writes to him — all the while adding that he had no problem in stepping down.

He also went about discharging his responsibilities as railway minister, holding a meeting with the Railway Board to boot.

Without naming the Prime Minister, Mamata today suggested it was the Centre’s responsibility to ensure that Mukul Roy, her nominee, is made the railway minister.

The Bengal chief minister would like the Prime Minister to sack Trivedi or persuade him to step down. Mamata is said to be reluctant to write to Trivedi as such a letter will add to his stand that he was being hounded out for doing something that has been widely applauded.

Irrespective of the uncertainty surrounding his fate, Trivedi has managed to prolong the agony of Mamata, much to the glee of the Congress that has publicly confined itself to the role of a coalition-dharma-compliant spectator.

The curtains went up on the fourth consecutive day of drama this morning when Trinamul’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha Kalyan Bandyopadhyay called up Trivedi and informed him that the party wanted him to resign.

But, Trivedi said party chairperson Mamata Banerjee should ask him in writing to put in his papers and only then would he oblige.

“I told Dinesh da that the party didn’t want him to continue as railway minister and so he should step down. He replied that he would step down only after he got a letter from the chairperson,” Bandyopadhyay said. “When he was made a minister no letter was sent. Why is he asking for a letter now? I told him that this was uncalled for.”

Later in the day, Trivedi sought to turn the tables on the Trinamul by explaining the reason for asking for a letter.

“I don’t have a problem with my resignation,” Trivedi said in Delhi.

“On the floor of Parliament, Sudip Bandyopadhyay (the leader of the Trinamul parliamentary party) said the Trinamul had not demanded my resignation. The Prime Minister has not asked for my resignation. But in the morning, I got a call from Kalyan Bandyopadhyay asking me to resign. I have no problem with that, but I have to find out the truth. After all, Sudip Bandyopadhyay said in Parliament that the Trinamul had not asked me to resign. Parliament has more sanctity than a phone call. If Mamata Banerjee writes to me or calls me or tells me, I will resign. But, I cannot act irresponsibly. I am asking for a letter to avoid any confusion.”

Responding to this, Bandyopadhyay said he had called up Trivedi as “a colleague and friend”.

“I just told him that resigning would give him a chance to exit gracefully,” Bandyopadhyay said.

“Eventually, he will have to go. After all, Mamata Banerjee has written to the Prime Minister proposing that Trivedi be replaced with Mukul Roy,” he said.

In the evening, after a meeting with Mamata at Writers’ Buildings, Sudip Bandyopadhyay ruled out any letter from Mamata. “What letter? To whom is the letter going to be sent? No, no letter is going to be written,” Bandyopadhyay said.

Mamata herself refused to comment on Trivedi’s resignation, other than saying that Roy would be the next railway minister. “I am not going to speak on this. Ask Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, our chief whip in Parliament. Mukul Roy will be the next railway minister. He has been an MP for the past six years and is a good worker. Now, it is for the Centre to decide,” Mamata said today.

Trivedi said in Delhi that he would carry on with his work as railway minister. “I am preparing for the discussion on the railway budget on Monday. As long as I am the railway minister, I will carry on with my duty. I am a responsible minister. I have presented a budget that has been appreciated by the entire country and other MPs. I do not want to be seen as running away from my budget.”

Trinamul sources indicated that Mamata was considering her options in dealing with Trivedi’s rebellion.

“This is a very tricky situation. The same thing happened when Kabir Suman rebelled against the party. Although he has carried on speaking against Mamata di and the party, no action has been taken against him as expulsion would have allowed him to carry on as an independent MP,” a Trinamul leader.

Trinamul sources said Mamata would continue to mount pressure on the Prime Minister to sack Trivedi.