Congress member V Kishore Chandra Singh Deo could occupy the Lok Sabha Speaker's chair in case Somnath Chatterjee opts to quit his post. According to top party sources, Singh Deo, who represents the reserved Parvathipuram constituency of Andhra Pradesh, has been considered the most appropriate Congress MP to replace Chatterjee.
In the eye of storm over his refusal to quit, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Friday said he will retire at the end of his term and was not keen on rejoining CPI(M) which expelled him recently.
Surprised at his name being proposed for the Presidential post, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has said he will consider the move if there is a large consensus on it.
NDA convenor George Fernandes said Nationalist Trinamool Congress leader P A Sangma may be pitted against Somnath Chatterjee.
With Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray targeting some Members of Parliament from Bihar, including Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Wednesday said that such references amounted to contempt of the House.
''I strongly denounce the way you are conducting yourself. It is shameful and disgusting behaviour,'' Chatterjee told BSP member Brajesh Pathak, who continued to agressively counter Union Fertilizer Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, despite repeated requests from the Chair to resume his seat. But Pathak refused to listen to the Chair, prompting Chatterjee to remark: ''Ham yeh hone nahin deyenge... Hamko hataiye yahan se .
Putting behind the bitterness over his expulsion from the Communist Party of India-Marxist, at least for now, former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee plans to campaign for the party in the assembly elections as he still feels he is aMarxist. He attacked the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee charging it with "harping on change" but not giving any clarification on what their agenda was.
Lok Sabha Sepaker Somnath Chatterjee has said those who are occupying constitutional positions must give primacy to discharging their constitutional obligations in remarks seen as an oblique backing to Kerala Chief Minister V S Achutanandan's stand in his standoff with the party rival Pinarayi Vijayan.
Three years after the expulsion of Marxist stalwart Somnath Chatterjee from the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the party has dropped a broad hint of considering his return if there was a specific proposal.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee completes one year in office on Saturday earning bouquets and brickbats through a tumultous period in which the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance often resorted to disruptions and boycotts
The remark came as Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh, who was concentrating on his reply during the Question Hour, said, "I thought the applause was for mango exports."
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who has so far maintained silence about his expulsion from the Communist Party of India Marxist, is planning to write a letter to party General Secretary Prakash Karat, according to sources.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Monday said that his intention was 'not to punish anybody per se' while proceeding against 32 opposition Members of Parliament for their disorderly conduct.Chatterjee said that he told the leaders that the MPs could raise any issue they like. "You will embarrass the government, but it is not the duty of the Speaker to extricate the government from any problem or to save the government. Let the govt go if they have no majority," Chatterjee said.
Defending the decision to expel Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the party, CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat on Thursday said they did not have any other option but to take disciplinary action against the veteran Marxist as he refused to quit the post after a party directive.
Under attack from veteran leader Somnath Chatterjee over the Left's electoral debacle, Communist Party of India - Marixst general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday remained tightlipped about criticism of his leadership and said his party would react to it. "I won't respond. My party will react (to Chatterjee's charge)," Karat told reporters. "He (Chatterjee) is not in the party. So I don't need to react," he said.
He is the first Communist leader to occupy the high office.
NDA on Wednesday boycotted Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's all-party meeting aimed at defusing the stalemate over the Opposition demand to dismiss Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
In a stinging attack at his former party, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said on Tuesday that the Communist Party of India-Marxist has reduced itself to a "non-actor" in national politics after withdrawing support to the Congress-led coalition describing the action as a "big blunder".
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Tuesday appeared lukewarm to the speculations on bringing him back to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, saying that he would not appeal to the party.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee may have been expelled by his party, CPI(M), but his tenure as an MP, or for that matter, as the presiding officer of the Lower House remains unaffected, say constitutional and legal experts.
Somnath Chatterjee said as speaker of Parliament of the world's largest democracy, having to undergo frisking at the airport was an affront to India.
Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat on Saturday said his party has not taken any decision yet to ask Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to quit office. "No, that is not correct. There is no such decision as yet," Karat told PTI over phone when asked whether the party has asked Chatterjee to step down and that he would quit on Monday.
"Personally I have lost my father for the second time in Jyoti Basu's death," former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Sunday said expressing his deep shock over the Marxist patriarch's death.
Expulsion from the party often entails a social boycott of the person by the members of the political family, say insiders, and this is not going to be easy for Somnath Chatterjee who has spent the best part of his life in the CPI-M.
Singh, who drove to Chatterjee's residence in New Delhi, did not speak to the waiting media persons after the meeting that lasted about 10 minutes.
Breaking his silence, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Friday ruled out quitting and hit out at the Communist Party of India Marxist for demanding his resignation, saying 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.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will quit office on August 12, sources said.
The Lok Sabha speaker will meet the Leader of Opposition over breakfast on Tuesday to discuss ways to break the deadlock over the opposition boycott of parliamentary committees.
Outgoing Speaker Somnath Chatterjee expressed concern about the manner in which money was flaunted by some MPs during the Trust Vote on July 23rd last year to save the government.
A B Bardhan, general secretary of the Communist Party of India, had gone on record that the Left parties would like Chatterjee to be the official presidential candidate.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and other passengers onboard a Jet Airways flight had a narrow escape on Sunday when their plane had to abort landing and take a 'go-around' after the pilot spotted another aircraft on the runway.The Southern China Airlines was on the ground and was taxiing for take off on runway 29. The aircraft came onto the runway due to some apparent communication gap.
Noting that communalisation and criminalisation have "greatly vitiated" the political system of the country, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee warned on Sunday that the future of democracy can face serious problems if urgent corrective steps are not taken.
Maintaining that contrary opinions should not be ignored, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said former Lok Sabha Speaker and expelled Communist Party of India - Marxist leader Somnath Chatterjee had "risen above his party and his ideology to do what he believes is right".
As a newspaper article with critical references to him created a flutter in the House on Friday, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said on Saturday that he had never held that he was above criticism.
He will now preside over the proceedings of the first two days of the House when new members take oath.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who was expelled by the Communist Party of India-Marxist for refusing to quit his post despite the party directive, has expressed his desire to quit politics and do charitable work, former CPI-M MP Saifuddin Chowdhury claimed.
About 43 MLAs and 200 MLAs have been named.
Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh on Tuesday alleged that six Lok Sabha Members of Parliament from his party were being forcibly kept inside the Uttar Pradesh Bhavan in New Delhi ahead of the crucial trust vote and charged Bahujan Samaj Party chief Minister Mayawati with playing coercive politics.Talking to newsmen before the second and final day of the special session of the Lok Sabha, Singh said one or two of them might be rebels from his party.
The expulsion of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the Communist Party of India-Marxist for defying the party diktat to step down ends on a bitter note the political journey of a man who was the Marxist outfit's most articulate face with liberal views in Parliament for nearly four decades.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances