Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, Mamata Banerjee’s only representative in the Cabinet, said that after he saw the draft “for the first time” at the cabinet meeting, he demanded that it be sent back to the standing committee for changes.

“I had objected to the Lokayukta parts, including the title of the Bill carrying the word ‘Lokayukta’, which was a surprise to some of us. I had said that this was a new development, and was unacceptable,” Trivedi told The Indian Express.

Trivedi added that Home Minister P Chidambaram had “violated the norms of the cabinet by divulging its meeting details”, and hence he had no option but to reply. Congress leaders on Friday blamed the TMC for opposing the Bill after being “party to the cabinet meeting that cleared it”.

The railway minister said that he was not given time to read the 70-odd-page Bill. No copy was given to him for perusal, and his objections were overruled in the cabinet by senior members from the Congress.

However, he had not given any dissent note, Trivedi said. “I had argued the matter for a good 10 minutes, but to no avail.”

In Delhi, the Congress was politely guarded when asked to comment on the Trinamool’s defiance and criticism. In Kolkata, however, the gloves are off.

Pradip Bhattacharya, Congress MP and chief of the party’s state unit, said that the TMC’s role in the Rajya Sabha was “simply unacceptable.” Calling for a “relook at the alliance,” he said: “There is need for immediate negotations to sort out the problems with initiatives from both sides. Our central leadership is very unhappy.”

Baharampur MP Adhir Chowdhury called for a pullout from the coalition in the state. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said: “We should give TMC only issue-based support from outside. The new government is inundated by failures. Why should we be party to those failures? This government has become worse than the CPM government.’’

Chowdhury has already unilaterally announced that in the panchayat polls of 2013, the Congress would go it alone in Murshidabad district, and he would not forge any alliance with any party, not even the TMC. He has reason to be bitter — caught as he is in another state-level controversy.

The Congress has opposed the TMC decision of renaming Indira Bhavan — a Salt Lake complex that served as Jyoti Basu’s residence — as Nazrul Bhavan. To which Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said today, “We condemn this. The Congress is serving the interests of the CPM. Where were they when the Singur and Nandigram agitations were going on?’’

To Chowdhury’s allegation that criminalisation of politics in the state was rampant under the Trinamool, Hakim said, “There is no other bigger criminal in the state than the person who said this.’’

This triggered a sharp reaction from the Congress. “In a democracy, people have freedom of expression. But one should exercise restraint while speaking about others. I believe no sane person should have said such things,’’ said Congress’s Manas Bhuniya, state minister for small irrigation.

Chowdhury, when asked about Hakim’s remarks, said: “I cannot stoop that low to reply to such a filthy remark.’’

Said Bhuniya: “Indira Gandhi is in our blood. The chief minister had told me there is no question of changing the name. I said if the name remains there and a research centre on Nazrul Islam is opened on the premises, we will have no objection.’’