Somnath ends silence, says he is not quitting

UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION: The Speaker contended that the party could not direct him to resign.

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New Delhi: Breaking his silence, Somnath Chatterjee on Friday ruled out quitting as Lok Sabha Speaker.

He hit out at Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) for demanding his resignation, saying that it cannot give any direction to him in his Constitutional office.

"I have consciously taken the principled decision to uphold the Constitution of India at the risk of being unjustifiably dubbed as anti-party," he said in a five-page statement making it clear he would continue to fulfill his obligations and responsibilities as the Speaker during his tenure.

CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan on Friday said that the CPM had no option but to expel its Senior party Leader Somnath Chatterjee following his ''refusal to accept the party diktat to step down as the Lok Sabha Speaker before the vote of confidence last month.''

Addressing a meet-the-press organised by the Ernakulam Press Club in Kochi, Mr Bardhan said that though Mr Chatterjee was a veteran CPM leader and a Parliamentarian of three-and-a-half decades' experience, for the party all members were equal.

''He was elected on the CPM ticket and continued to be a party member till recently. With all due respect to Somnath Babu, I think the CPM had no option.

''A party has to maintain discipline. For the party, everyone is equal,'' he added.

Meanwhile, calling July 23, the day of his expulsion from CPI-M, as "one of the saddest day of his life", Somnath Chatterjee said, it was a "canard" to allege that his continuance in the post was to help any party or parties or was for some other personal considerations.

"I strongly and categorically deny these wholly baseless allegations," he said in the statement which also traces the events ever since the Left parties decided to withdraw support to the UPA Government and sections within the party asking him to resign.

The Speaker contended that the party could not direct him to resign and vote against the Government as it would "seriously compromise" the Constitutional position of the Speaker.

Asserting that he had scrupulously kept himself away from all political activities whatsoever, Chatterjee suggested that in view of the controversies now being raised, a member should temporarily resign from the party during his tenure as Speaker and not face a situation which compromises the position of the Speaker vis-a-vis his party.

Recalling the developments in the run-up to the July 22 trust vote in the Lok Sabha, he said on July 6 when the CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat met him to explain generally the party's stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal, he was told that the party had not discussed any matter regarding the Speaker.

On the morning of July nine, Karat telephonically conveyed to him that a section of the party felt that his continuance as Speaker may be untenable. However, it was stated the final decision would be left to him.

On the same day, Chatterjee said, he was surprised to learn from the media that his name was mentioned in the communication to the President on the withdrawal of support "without any intimation to or any discussion with him".