Somnath Chatterjee turns 79, to continue as Speaker

It may be recalled that ever since the Left parties decided to withdraw their support to the Congress party-led coalition government, citing political differences over the India-US nuclear deal, the party leaders had been at loggerhead with Chatterjee, who was asked to quit his office as the Speaker.

Though Chatterjee was unanimously elected for the office of the Speaker, yet, as was elected to the parliament on the party's ticket, the senior CPI(M) leaders saw it fit that he step down.

However, Chatterjee turned a deaf ear to the party's demands, saying the post of the Speaker was above party politics and the Speaker "does not represent any political party in the discharge of his duties and functions," and, in a clear rebuff to the party, he continued to carry on his duties as the Speaker and presided over the confidence motion that resulted in the coalition government's victory.

Smarting from their defeat, the Left leaders soon thereafter vented their ire on Chatterjee, expelling him from the CPI(M).

"The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) has unanimously decided to expel Somnath Chatterjee from the membership of the party with immediate effect," a statement issued on Wednesday, after a Polit Bureau meeting chaired by CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, that discussed his defiance, read.

According to several senior communist party leaders, Chatterjee's expulsion was unfortunate but necessary.

CPI(M) West Bengal state secretary and Politburo member Biman Bose, who had urged Chatterjee to quit before the trust vote said he had "seriously compromised" the party's position and "violated party discipline."

"He (Chatterjee) may abide by the country's Constitution but the party has its own Constitution with which he has to abide. We have to abide by party rules. He did not relinquish the Speaker's post despite the party's directive. He had breached party discipline. The party will sever all connections with those who do not follow party diktats," he said.

Bose also said that the party had information that Chatterjee would step down a day after the trust vote in the Lok Sabha, "but he has not done so."

"When he (Chatterjee) refused to accept the party's advice to resign, it was left with no other option but to expel him. No individual is above the party," Bose said.

CPI(M) Kerala state secretary and politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan was harsher in his criticism, saying Chatterjee was "a traitor to the party" and "as a communist holding a high office, he cheated the party."

"He did not show the discipline that is expected from a communist. He was well aware of all the issues and therefore his action was an open violation," Vijayan added.

"The Central Committee decided that no member of the party should remain the Speaker of Lok Sabha after the withdrawal of support. We were asked to communicate this to him. He did not agree...we had no option (but to take action)," said Karat.

Terming the decision unfortunate, Karat said it was up to Chatterjee to decide whether he wanted to appeal against the decision.

"We had no options but to expel Somnath Chatterjee. It was unfortunate that we had to take disciplinary action (against him) and it was not a happy thing. To continue or not as the Speaker is his decision. It is up to him. But whether he will remain as our party member, that we will decide," Karat said.

"In our party constitution, there are methods and measures by which any party member can appeal against any disciplinary action. The only thing I am saying is that as far as my party is concerned we have exercised our party disciplinary machinery or method," he added.

Kerala Chief Minister and politburo member V.S. Achuthanandan also justified the move. "He was well aware of all the issues and therefore his action was an open violation of party discipline," Achuthanandan said.

Agrees senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M. Venkaiah Naidu. "Indian democracy is based on party system," Naidu said, adding that Chatterjee should have resigned from the office of the Speaker when CPI(M) withdrew support to the Congress-led government.

However, as much as Somnath Chatterjee received brickbats, he also received praises for his "sacrifices" and upholding the Constitution.

"He is an inspiration to all youth of the country. Only a person of his stature can lead by example to show how the Constitution is to be revered even at the face of petty party politics. We would like him to continue as the Speaker and our teacher," said Congress MP and industrialist, Navin Jindal.

Agrees Jitin Prasad who calls Chatterjee "his leader" and not just any "party leader." "This is my first term as a member of the House and he has always encouraged young people like us in Parliament. His supportive nature has helped us greatly to carry out House proceedings. I conveyed him good wishes for his birthday and told him that his sacrifices has deeply moved me," the Congress MP said after meeting the Speaker.

"What the CPI-M has done is most unfortunate. They have shown disrespect to him. Everybody who believes in democracy would condemn this," said Home Minister Shivraj Patil.

"Withdrawal of support to us was a mistake made by the Left. Now, expelling him is another big mistake," said Saiffudin Soz, Minister for Water Resources.

"Chatterjee's expulsion by his party doesn't change his position as Speaker," said Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.

"For a person who had seen the party's increasing strength from 15 to 50 seats in the House, the CPI(M) has meted out grave ill-treatment to him. Every party showcause their members before expulsion. The CPI(M) should have at least thought before doing what they did," he added.

"Now the only thing left for the party is to expel Jyoti Babu (Basu). They have lost their minds. He (Chatterjee) taught them ideology. The Left has thrown him out on a whim. Prakash Karat can never attain his stature," said Railway Minister Lalu Prasad.

According to Minister for Rural Development, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, it was "childish" of CPI(M) to confine the Speaker to the diktat of the party.

"(Chatterjee) has an impressive political background as a CPI(M) member for the last 40 years. He has been an elected MP for 10 times. He also received the best parliamentarian award. But CPI(M)did not pay any regard to this. It expelled him without serving any show cause to him," Singh said.

According to the Constitution, Singh said, "neither any law of the party nor its directive will be binding on Chatterjee when he (Chatterjee) is the Speaker of the house." As the Speaker, Chatterjee enjoys an exemption from following any directive of his party. "But CPI(M) wants him to follow its diktat," he added.

According to Baliram Bhagat, who served as the Speaker between 1974 and 1977 before the Congress lost power to Janata Party, Chatterjee said preserved the sanctity of the office by conducting Lok Sabha proceedings in a very fair manner over the past four years and now by taking a firm stance of not resigning from the post. "He has kept his post above party politics," Bhagat said.

According to Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan, "He (Chatterjee) does not belong to any party as he lost his party affiliation after being elected as a Speaker. There is no question of a new Speaker."

"He has been an exceptionally good Speaker and exceptionally fair," she said.

Chatterjee also received praise from an unexpected quarter - Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

"We have ideological differences with Somnath Chatterjee but he has commanded respect by showing courage by going by his conscience," Thackeray said in an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamna.

"When they failed to dislodge the Manmohan Singh government and make BSP leader Mayawati the Prime Minister, the CPI (M) bosses took out their anger on Chatterjee and expelled him," Thackeray said.

According to Thackeray, Chatterjee equalled CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu and current West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in stature.

Chatterjee, Thackeray said, "Preferred political martyrdom for his secular ideology to toeing the party line that his conscience did not permit."

Thackeray also berated the Left, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati and the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), saying they got together with the single aim of toppling the government.

But now that the government has survived, these parties have been scattered. They are going their separate ways and they seen to have abandoned their intentions of the country's good, he said.

According to Thackeray, "the country is not secure in the hands of such people" who believe that toppling the government and grabbing power is in the best interest of the nation.

"The whole country has witnessed this," he said.

Even Chatterjee received support from CPI(M) quarters. CPI(M) leader and West Bengal Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty said he was "terribly upset and shocked at the expulsion of Chatterjee, who was an asset to the party and had been associated for four decades."

"I am heartbroken. He was an exceptional comrade," Chakraborty said, adding Chatterjee had greatly helped uphold the image of the CPI(M).

Saifuddin Choudhury, a former CPI(M) leader and colleague of Chatterjee in the Lok Sabha, believes the CPI(M)'s absence will work to Chatterjee's advantage. "The Speaker can now do better work without his party restricting him," Chowdhury, who quit the communist party in 2000 following differences of opinion about the party's functioning and its anti-Congress stand, said.

"The expulsion of Somnath Chatterjee is an act of vendetta by the vanquished," he said.

Others to express solidarity with the veteran politician and wish him on his birthday were Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi and Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh.

Meanwhile, constitutional and legal experts said Chatterjee could continue in his role as a Speaker despite being expelled by his party.

"The Lok Sabha and only the Lok Sabha and can get rid of the Speaker," said Shanti Bhusan, former law minister and senior advocate.

Agrees noted jurist and former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee. "The Speaker was elected by the House, he was not elected as a nominee of any particular political party. His expulsion from the party has nothing to do with his continuation as the Speaker. He can be removed only if he wants to resign himself or has to be voted out," Sorabjee said.

According to former additional solicitor general and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Devendra Dwivedi, the CPI(M)'s "mind-numbing action amounted to contempt of parliament" as "it raises questions of seminal importance" to the constitutional and parliamentary laws. "The Speaker's authority, derived from the position of independence and impartiality of his office, is what makes him the custodian of rights and powers of Parliament and an umpire between the treasury benches and the Opposition," Dwivedi said.

"Therefore, he can't be subordinate to the dictates and discipline of the party of which he has been a member. Besides, the CPI(M)'s harsh language against the Speaker shows that it believes that the high constitutional authority should conduct himself according to the wishes of the party. This is highly condemnable," the constitutional expert said.

Legally, Chatterjee can continue as Lok Sabha Speaker as per the 10th Schedule of the Constitution despite being expelled from his party. He can only be removed by a notice initiated by 100 members of the Lok Sabha and then it has to be ratified by two-thirds majority present and voting.

ABOUT SOMNATH CHATTERJEE

Born in Tezpur, Assam, in July 25, 1929 in a conservative Hindu family, Somnath Chatterjee was educated in Kolkata and England, and joined politics in 1968. He been elected as an MP on the CPI(M) ticket for a record 10 times is perhaps the party's most articulate member and had, on several occasions, been the mouthpiece of his party both in national and international fora. He was awarded the "Outstanding Parliamentarian Award" in 1996.

Elected from the Bolpur constituency in West Bengal, Chatterjee was a central committee member of the party, when he was elected as Speaker in 2004. After his election, however, he had refrained from participating in any of the party activities while upholding the sanctity of the constitutional position.