By IANS,
New Delhi : Lashing out at Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for his comment that withdrawal of support by the Left parties to the UPA government was a mistake, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Monday said it revealed his “pro-Congress stand”.
The outgoing Lok Sabha speaker had in an interview to NDTV said he had cautioned the Left parties against withdrawing support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government over the India-US nuclear deal last year.
Karat said: “By admitting his pro-Congress stance, Chatterjee has exposed the moral high ground he took that the speaker is above party politics. His support to the Congress-led government and his continuance as the speaker are inter connected.”
Karat made his comment in an article titled “Curious morality of Somnath Chatterjee”, published by the party’s official news service.
Chatterjee was expelled by the CPI-M after he went against the party directive and refused to step down as Lok Sabha speaker during the July 22 trust motion in parliament last year. The Left had decided to vote against the government.