And now, Pranab confirms Trivedi hasn't quit

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has not resigned but a communication from Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee was under "active consideration" of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

Amid turmoil over the Trivedi issue, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the House that the communication from Banerjee was received late last night and "as and when a decision will be taken, the House will be informed."

Mukherjee did not divulge details of the communication and his remarks came after opposition uproar over the issue of reported resignation of Trivedi as Railway Minister.

BJP and Left leaders described the situation as "unusual and unprecedented" and sought clarifications from the Prime Minister as it showed his coalition government in "poor light" and as "weak".

Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, Sharad Yadav (JD-U), Basudeb Acharia (CPI-M) and Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) had given notices for suspension of Question Hour and sought clarification from the government.

Speaker Meira Kumar disallowed their notices but allowed them to have their say.

Trivedi was sitting in the front row in the Lok Sabha which is usually occupied by senior ministers and questions were listed against his name for reply during Question Hour. However, the House was adjourned before the questions could be taken up.

Trivedi was seen being complimented by several Congress members before the House assembled for the day.

Swaraj also wanted clarification on the Railway Budget, to which Mukherjee said the government owned up the proposals that were approved by him as Finance Minister.