Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has not resigned, the government clarified in parliament on Thursday.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Lok Sabha that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had not received any resignation, but only a letter from Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee late on Wednesday.
"As soon as a decision is taken, the house will be informed," he said.
Giving out the same message in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla said: "PM has not received any resignation from railway minister. We have received a communication from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee but no decision has been taken. The house will be informed when any decision is taken."
'No TMC threat to government'
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress ruled out any threat to the UPA government but insisted that Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi should go.
"We are supporting the government totally," Trinamool Parliamentary Party leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay told reporters.
He was asked whether the government was stable or it faces any threat. Asked whether Trivedi would remain as Railway Minister, he said, "Trivedi is an individual. Trinamool Congress is of the opinion that he should not remain as Railway Minister unless he withdraws the hike (passenger fares in the railway budget)."
"But on Thursday morning the situation has changed (an apparent reference to party leader Mamata Banerjee's demand to replace Trivedi with Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy," he said.
Speculation about the resignation of Trivedi, who was in the Lok Sabha, rocked the lower house with Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and other opposition leaders issuing a notice to suspend question hour to discuss the issue.
Is the budget still valid?
"Tell us if Trivedi is still Railways Minister. Is the railway budget presented yesterday still valid?," asked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj.
Janata Dal-United (JD-U) chief Sharad Yadav asked the government to make a statement in the House on the issue.
"They (UPA Government) have mismanaged this whole affair. We need transparency on what happened," he said.
However, Speaker Meira Kumar disallowed the notice saying there was no rule under which this demand could be met.
Banerjee has sought to replace Trivedi with her loyalist, Minister of State for Transport Mukul Roy.
Fare Hike
Trivedi had in his maiden Railway Budget proposed a hike of one paise per km for suburban and ordinary second class travel. He also called for a fare increase for mail express and second class trains at three paisa per km; for sleeper class five paisa per km; for AC chair car, AC 3 tier and First Class by 10 paise per km; AC 2 Tier 15 paise per km; and AC I 30 paise per km.
He said the corresponding rationalisation in minimum distance and fare chargeable in various classes has also been proposed.
The proposed revisions will have marginal impact on the fares. The increase in fares for suburban second class passengers traveling 35 km will be Rs.2. For non-suburban second class ordinary passenger traveling a distance of 135 km, increase will be Rs.4 only.
For second class mail or express passenger traveling a distance of 375 km, the addition to the fare will be Rs.12 and that for a 750 km journey by sleeper class on mail/express train will be Rs.40. An AC 3 tier passenger traveling a distance of 530 km will be required to pay an additional Rs.57. The increase for AC 2 tier and AC I passenger traveling over same distance will be Rs.84 and Rs.163 respectively.