By IANS,
Kolkata : The much debated issue of Somnath Chatterjee’s resignation from the post of Lok Sabha speaker finds no mention on the agenda of the two-day central committee meeting of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) beginning in Delhi from Saturday.
“This issue is not on the agenda,” CPI-M central committee member Mohammad Salim told reporters here after the party’s West Bengal state secretariat meeting Friday.
Another central committee member and the state industry minister Nirupam Sen also echoed Salim.
And, when asked whether there is any likelihood that the matter could be discussed in the central committee meeting, Sen said: “I don’t know whether it will be placed on the table.”
CPI-M state secretary Biman Bose said Thursday that the issue could be discussed if it was raised by any member.
Meanwhile, senior party leader and state sports and transport minister Subhas Chakraborty has given a letter to Bose admitting that he made a mistake by speaking to the media about his opposition to the party’s decision to vote against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the July 22 confidence motion.
“Yes, he has given me a letter admitting his mistake,” Bose said.
Chakraborty had Monday said in a letter to party general secretary Prakash Karat that the communists would have to answer embarrassing questions from the people if their MPs voted against the Congress.
Peeved at Chakraborty’s public pronouncements, the party’s central committee had asked the state unit to seek an explanation from the firebrand leader.
The CPI-M and three other Left parties withdrew support to the UPA government, protesting its decision to go ahead with the India-US civilian nuclear deal. The Congress-led UPA government now faces a crucial floor test in the Lok Sabha to prove its majority.