Somnath calls Left's support withdrawal a mistake

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has described as a “mistake” the withdrawal of the support by the Left parties to the UPA Government in July last year over the Indo-US nuclear deal and disclosed that he had cautioned against taking such a step.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has described as a “mistake” the withdrawal of the support by the Left parties to the UPA Government in July last year over the Indo-US nuclear deal and disclosed that he had cautioned against taking such a step.

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Asked if withdrawal of support was a mistake like the decision not to join the government in 1996, Chatterjee told a private news channel, “Yes, very much so. I had sent a note to them (CPI-M).

“I told them don’t give up your stand against the nuclear deal, oppose it. Say that the party will not be bound, warn the government, warn the people of the serious consequences that may be there,” he said.

Chatterjee, who was expelled from the CPI-M after refusing to vote against the confidence motion last year, said he cautioned them against the move and told them, “Don’t withdraw because you are only encouraging certain forces in the country which we have all been fighting against,” a clear reference to BJP and its allies.