Speaker yet to decide on quitting office

Despite party pressure, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Sunday night said he had not yet taken a decision on whether to resign the constitutional post, reports Tanmay Chatterjee.

Despite party pressure, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Sunday night said he had not yet taken a decision on whether to resign the constitutional post. “I have not taken a decision. When I decide, I will certainly let you know. I request the media not not to enter into speculation about the Speaker’s post,” he said when asked for comment after his meeting with CPI-M patriarch Jyoti Basu here.

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During the meeting, Basu is understood to have counselled the Speaker to toe the party line in order to present a united face on the issue, which implies that he quit the post. Chatterjee, however, described his meeting with Basu as personal where he discussed family matters.

However, CPM sources told HT that during the hour-long conversation with his mentor, the Bolpur MP was aggrieved that his consent was not sought before including him in the list of party MPs that was submitted to President Pratibha Patil on July 8. Already under pressure from not only the CPM but its Left allies to step down as Speaker, Chatterjee reportedly told Basu that after being neutral inside the House for four years, it would be morally unfair for him to vote against the UPA and, hence, he should resign from the Lok Sabha. Apart from the embarrassment, that would mean one Left vote less on July 22.

Earlier, before his meeting with Chatterjee, Union External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee called on Basu. “As Lok Sabha leader, it was my duty to inform Basu why and under what circumstances coordination between the Left and UPA broke,” Mukherjee said.