Minister of state for health and family welfare Dinesh Trivedi of the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday became India’s new railway minister.
He fills a post that has been vacant since party leader Mamata Banerjee’s exit in May. Trivedi, 61, has been elevated to cabinet rank. Along with others, he will be administered the oath of office at 5 00 pm., the Prime Minister’s Office said. Trivedi is an MP from Barrackpore in West Bengal.
An MBA, he became a MP for the first time in 1990 when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha. He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 2009. Trivedi succeeds Banerjee, who stepped down in May to take over as the West Bengal chief minister.
Trinamool’s Mukul Roy, who was minister of state for railways, now retains only the portfolio of minister of state for shipping. Trivedi’s elevation to the post comes two days after a train derailment in Uttar Pradesh left nearly 70 people dead.