The veteran Marxist Leader and Speaker of the Parliament,Somnath Chatterjee was expelled from the party according to Karat,Party GS, "it was not a happy thing to do". He defied party decision to resign and continued to function as Speaker much to the embarrassment of the Party. No body in the party except Joyoti Basu could appreciate the stand taken by Somnath, no to vote along with BJP,a communal outfit,whom CPI(M) has been opposing since inception. This according to him was a principled stand and no body could alter it. Particularly when he was continuing as Speaker, his expulsion from the party was totally illogical besides questionable. For all practical purposes, he ceases to be party member as long as he continues to hold the constitutional position. If Party has waited till August 12, the date on which he promised to put in his papers. His expulsion from the party thereafter would not have raised any eyebrows. Why Karat was in hurry to expel him from the Party, is a mystery. The reasons may be many. One of them being that Somanth's constituency has been delimited and reserved for SC. So there is no chance his seeking re-election apart from his age.That may be the reason for him to defy the party,insider say. But for a veteral like him, the lure of office would not force him to quit the post and whatever he did was on the principled stand taken by him.It was that of not to vote along with the communal BJP that would have sent wrong signal to Muslim voters. He was right.
