Upholding the highest tradition of speaker post, Somnath Chatterjee,refused to toe the line of his party from which he was elected as MP. Based on the practices of British Parliament traditions, the Speaker can be appointed unanimously once he is elected as MP from any party. But once he assumed the charge, he is relieved of his responsibility towards that party. The British tradition is that the Speaker is allowed to recontest but elected unanimously so that he can remain impartial to the House. But unfortunately this is not practised in India. The Speaker remain loyal to the Party and he seeks re-election from the same party. That has made the post of Speaker vulnerable in the case of emergent situation like the one faced today. But to the great credit of Somanth Chatterjee, he refused to resign as he would not like to act against his principled stand he took in life. That is not to allign with the communal forces. What is wrong with that stand. It is commendable. See how Karat is isolated in his own backyard in Bengal, that forced him to skip Bengal from his tour itenary. Somanth has also decided to resign from the post by announcing publicly in the House of his intention once the voting is over. That means he will not take part in the voting against the Govt and that is what irked the BJP. They lashed out at him and questioned his impartiality. If he votes with them, will he become impartial then. This is doubled faced BJP and public watching their each and evey move.
