Speaker should quit party, says Somnath

NEW DELHI: Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Sunday flagged off a constitutional debate by suggesting that his successor Meira Kumar should quit her party while holding the post to prevent ���any conflict of interest.���

���It is better if a person occupying the Speaker���s post resigns from his or her party post during the tenure so that there is no conflict of interest,������ Mr Chatterjee told a news channel.

The former Speaker���s assertion is likely to pile up pressure on his successor to relinquish her party membership. The question was raised by newspersons at the first press conference addressed by her after taking up the post, but she preferred to sidetrack the demand by replying that Speaker should be ���above board��� and remain ���impartial.���

It���s another matter that Mr Chatterjee had himself refused to resign from CPM after he was unanimously elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker in 2004. He continued to retain his party membership, only to be expelled by the Left party in July, 2008, for refusing to resign from the post in deference to its wishes.

Mr Chatterjee was also critical of attempts by parties to use high constitutional posts like that of the Lok Sabha Speaker as ���gifts��� to oblige party workers. ���If it is treated as gift or charity then it detracts from the position of the Speaker,��� he said.