NEW
DELHI: Speaker Somnath Chatterjee’s cooption by Congress continues, with
party chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday leading a procession of leaders to greet the
expelled CPM leader on his 80th
birthday.
Sonia visited
Chatterjee's Akbar Road residence in the morning and spent 10 minutes with him.
The social courtesy gains significance as it comes in the backdrop of the
Speaker refusing to toe the party line to demit office before the trust vote, in
what is seen as a defiance tilted towards the Congress. The communist leadership
expelled him for indiscipline.
Congress has been quick to
hail him as a custodian of "highest practices of democracy" with Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh choosing to stand by him after his expulsion. The visit by Sonia
at this tumultuous juncture, in contrast to a shutout by his comrades of 40
years, shows that cleavage between Congress-led UPA and CPM over Chatterjee
would be severe.
The Speaker,
on his part, has maintained a studied silence over the events around him. It is
clear from the suddden outpouring of support for Chatterjee that
Congress’s direction to partymen is to toast him as one of their own.
Senior ministers and young
MPs, taking a cue from the top leadership, praised him for upholding the
Constitution of the country. Parliamentary affairs minister Vayalar Ravi and
minister of state for finance Pawan Kumar Bansal called him on his birthday as
did science and technology minister Kapil Sibal and rural development minister
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh of RJD.
Sibal praised him for his
conduct, saying that history would judge if CPM’s decision to expel him
was "right or wrong" and Singh said the Speaker was receiving unprecedented
support for his stand. Seniors apart, there was a queue of first-timers who
hailed Chatterjee as a
"teacher".
"He is an
inspiration to all the youth of the country. Only a person of his stature can
lead by example to show how the Constitution is to be revered even in the face
of petty party politics. We would like him to continue as the Speaker and our
teacher," said first-time Congress MP Navin Jindal. Another first-timer, Jitin
Prasada described the Speaker as "his leader" and not just any "party leader".
"This is my first term as an
MP 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 good wishes for his birthday and told him that his sacrifices has
deeply moved me," he said after meeting the Speaker.