UPA celebrates Somnath’s birthday
Ms Sonia Gandhi drove down to Mr Somnath Chatterjee’s residence on Friday to greet him on his birthday.
By ET Bureau |
NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee���s birthday provided yet another opportunity for UPA leaders to demonstrate their ���regard��� for him. Ms Sonia Gandhi drove down to Mr Somnath Chatterjee���s residence on Friday to greet him on his birthday.
The Congress took celebrations to the streets and party leaders put up hoardings congratulating the Speaker. The hoardings praised the ���non-partisan approach��� of the Speaker. This is the first time a Speaker has been getting such attention from a political party.
Mr Chatterjee���s continuance as Speaker is critical for the ruling arrangement. If the Speaker vacates the post, the party will have to undertake another ���number crunching��� for the election of a leader of its choice. The Congress, which had to break parties for winning the trust vote, is keen to avert it.
This consideration may have been prompting leaders of the alliance to eulogise Mr Chatterjee and his handling of the Lok Sabha. The prime minister had met the Speaker on Thursday to reaffirm faith in him.
But the NDA and the Left are quite unhappy with the Speaker. CPM leaders, who criticised reports that Mr Chatterjee was sacked from the party without following due processes, said the polit bureau was only acting on a decision of the central committee. ���Mr Chatterjee was also a member of the CPM central committee for six years. As a member of the central committee, Mr Chatterjee had also endorsed similar decisions,��� a polit bureau member said.
The BJP is peeved with the Speaker for not being ���proactive��� in getting to the bottom of the alleged cash-for-votes scandal. BJP leaders alleged that the Speaker���s office had directed the news channel that conducted the sting operation to submit the tapes only after an inquiry committee was constituted by the Speaker. A meeting of the BJP leaders here on Thursday night deliberated on the NDA���s approach towards the Speaker.
Mr Chatterjee���s conduct was questioned by CPM allies, RSP and the Forward Bloc. The two parties said that they were not allowed to speak on the trust motion moved by the prime minister even when he gave opportunity to one-member parties.
The Congress took celebrations to the streets and party leaders put up hoardings congratulating the Speaker. The hoardings praised the ���non-partisan approach��� of the Speaker. This is the first time a Speaker has been getting such attention from a political party.
Mr Chatterjee���s continuance as Speaker is critical for the ruling arrangement. If the Speaker vacates the post, the party will have to undertake another ���number crunching��� for the election of a leader of its choice. The Congress, which had to break parties for winning the trust vote, is keen to avert it.
This consideration may have been prompting leaders of the alliance to eulogise Mr Chatterjee and his handling of the Lok Sabha. The prime minister had met the Speaker on Thursday to reaffirm faith in him.
But the NDA and the Left are quite unhappy with the Speaker. CPM leaders, who criticised reports that Mr Chatterjee was sacked from the party without following due processes, said the polit bureau was only acting on a decision of the central committee. ���Mr Chatterjee was also a member of the CPM central committee for six years. As a member of the central committee, Mr Chatterjee had also endorsed similar decisions,��� a polit bureau member said.
The BJP is peeved with the Speaker for not being ���proactive��� in getting to the bottom of the alleged cash-for-votes scandal. BJP leaders alleged that the Speaker���s office had directed the news channel that conducted the sting operation to submit the tapes only after an inquiry committee was constituted by the Speaker. A meeting of the BJP leaders here on Thursday night deliberated on the NDA���s approach towards the Speaker.
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Mr Chatterjee���s conduct was questioned by CPM allies, RSP and the Forward Bloc. The two parties said that they were not allowed to speak on the trust motion moved by the prime minister even when he gave opportunity to one-member parties.
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