Contrary to reports that he has resigned and the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has already accepted his resignation, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi attended Parliament today saying it was his duty.

A section of the media and some news channels reported today TMC supremo Mamatha Banerjee has requested the PM to drop Trivedi from the Cabinet for not informing her in advance about the proposed rail fare hike.

Denying he has not resigned and no one has asked him to quit, Trivedi attended the question hour in Parliament.

When the BJP members, led by their leader Sushma Swaraj, wanted to know whether Trivedi has quit his post, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee replied the Prime Minister has not received the resignation so far.

Pranab also clarified that the Railway Budget was introduced in Parliament by the Minister with the prior permission of the Prime Minister. TMC leader Sudeep Bandopadhyaya also said the TMC leadership has not sought the resignation of Trivedi.

Sources revealed that the last minute intervention of Pranab Mukherjee on the issue has cooled the tempers and Mamatha has dropped her demand to sack the Minister. (J)