By IANS,
New Delhi : In the light of raging speculation, veteran Marxist leader Somnath Chatterjee Thursday hinted at staying put as the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha, India’s lower house of parliament.
An official communiqué from Chatterjee’s secretariat made largely clear that he, one of the senior most members of the Lok Sabha, has no plans to relinquish the speaker’s post he has been holding since April 2004.
What rules out his stepping down from the coveted post is the subtle use of certain expressions in the official statement such as “he was not elected as the nominee of any party” and “in the discharge of his duties and functions he does not owe allegiance to any political party”.
The statement, urging the media to refrain from speculating, said they would be informed when “any decision is taken by the speaker relevant to the present political context”.
A raging media speculation was going on about Chatterjee steppuing down from the top parliamentary post since Tuesday when the Left parties announced withdrawal of support to the Congress-led United Progress Alliance (UPA) government over India-US nuclear deal.
“The Honourable Speaker does not represent any political party in the discharge of his duties and functions. It is well known the present speaker’s election to the high office was not only uncontested but was unanimous as all political parties proposed his name,” said the statement.
Chatterjee, who represents Bolpur parliament seat in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha, belongs to the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which leads the Left Front, a conglomerate of communist outfits vigorously opposing India-US nuclear deal.
He was elected the Lok Sabha speaker after the Left Front decided to support the Congress-led UPA government in April 2004 when the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) failed to retain power in the last parliamentary poll.
Chatterjee’s name also did rounds for India’s presidential post, but finally the present incumbent Pratibha Patil of the Congress had the last laugh.
The statement says: “He was not elected as the nominee of any party. In the discharge of his duties and functions he does not owe allegiance to any political party. Since his election as speaker, Somnath Chatterjee has scrupulously kept himself away from all political activities.”
Referring to the published and telecast media reports about his continuance in office, the statement urged that “the media may not drag the highest legislative office of the country into controversies by speculative reports and undeserved innuendos”.
“As and when any decision is taken by the Honourable Speaker, relevant to the present political context, the media will be kept informed,” said the statement issued by the joint director in the Lok Sabha secretariat R.N. Das.