Party discipline-wise there is no question as to why Somnath should continue as speaker.Morally speaking,he should have resigned as speaker to enable himself step into the shoe of a disciplined soldier of the party to carry out its orders.O.K. His intentions may be different-That he might have been thinking of casting his prerogative vote as speaker in favour of the govt in case of tie or he must have been feeling obliged,in the heart of heart,to Congress party which had no objection for his candidature for presidentship.Whatever it be,when his party issues a whip he should have obeyed it.CPM has correctly followed its text book procedure.Among the political parties it is known for its discipline.We should wonder if it had not expelled Somnath.Even so,it appears to have waited patiently for Somnath himself to react and resign at least after the voting.Since,it could find no semblance of any such thing & instead heard the irking news of his intention of continuing till the Common wealth Parliamentary Association meet to be held i.e.almost for another three weeks,it hastened its disciplinary action.This is what any party does should it be in CPI-M's place.No party tolerates some one enjoying the benefits of a position accorded by virtue of ones entry in to the house sheerly due to his having been elected on the symbol of their party.Chatterjis outward slogan of his not willing to share negative voting with BJP is not convincing.His exact intentions are still a mystery.
