With his long and chequered legal paractitioner's background, it is not surprising to see Somnath Chatterjee trying to raise various legal angles to justify his defiance of the directive from his party which gave him all possible support to come up to his present stature as a seasoned politician and parliamentarian. Perhaps in his moment of far-reaching decision he conveniently decided to forget that he swore to abide by the rule book of the CPI-M when he joined the party and he was clearly not prepared to forego the authority and prestige enjoyed by the LS Speaker, alongwith various accompanying perks, when the same party's top leadership asked him to step down as the Speaker. It is common knowledge that dedicated communists uphold their loyalty to the party's final decisions overcoming personal dissents or reservations and Somnath's audacious decision to defy the directive of the highest forum of his party can possibly be a fall-out of his conviction that he was not really bound by the party's decisions which are unpalatable to him. So, was Somnath wearing all these years a communist mask to avail of an effective spring-board for elevating himself to various positions of authority in public life ?
RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by merry sailor on Jul 25, 2008 04:10 AM Permalink
what is bigger CPI-M or the dignity of the speaker's post......hello...once a person assumes the speaker's post he is no longer affilitaed to any party...read the constitution mr.bhadra......i guess the oath to the speaker's post is bigger than the CPI-m oath....for heaven sake apprecite someoen who has shown some moral courage for once.....u commies!!!!
RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by Ramesh Kapoor on Jul 25, 2008 12:52 AM Permalink
For a few dollars more! Somnath Chaterjee is no communist, he knows at 79, he has only a few years of life to live, and he wants to make hay whilst it sunshines. If he can accummulate wealth until next general elections, so much the better, his retirement will pass through peacefully. Forget his legal background, because of being out of practice he has gone stale. He will need to refresh his knowledge and it may be too late.
RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by springvale on Jul 25, 2008 05:25 AM Permalink
Dear Ramesh, get your facts right before blogging idiotic comments like this. Already Karat has proved himself a complete shit, why you are so eager to join his rank?
RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by Vinay Gupta on Jul 25, 2008 05:45 AM Permalink
Both karat and somnath are shit. Spring, do u really know what is expected from the speaker? He cannot behave based on his preconceived ideology. How can he hate 130 members of parliament. I feel you have been carried away by the media reports on Somnath
RE:RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by Superman on Jul 25, 2008 01:04 AM Permalink
Bengalis are more idealistic than Punjabis are....no Bengalis would be caught taking bribes. Somnath is a rich man. He does not need a few crores to live...
RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by palash ghosh on Jul 25, 2008 06:11 AM Permalink
he may not have taken bribe in cash but would have defnitely taken in kind--i.e post of president ship or governorship or some other pluk post. It is absoultely nonsens bengalis do not accpet bribes. CAnt generalise
RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by M on Jul 25, 2008 01:02 AM Permalink
40 years is along time to wear a mask and no one noticing it. There are times when a person might follow what his conscience told him to rather than the what he sworn 40 years ago. While as a outsider I think discipline is important in any party or organization, freedom of mind and expression is important as well. Without that is it a close room without a window. In this particular case the party (of few in the party) might have acted hastily without taking others within the party into confidence. Look at the whole situation. After four years of being close to power what it has to show other than protesting about everything all the time. Mr. Laloo Prasad Jadav took the responsibility of rail and have showed that he can make a difference compared to most (if not all) of his predecessors. On the other hand because of Nuclear Deal issue party sat with BJP, considered Mayabati as future PM candidate, expelled one of the veteran leader, accused of double speak (Karat on "It is upto speaker") and finally other issues which party protested for long will now be cleared fast. Four years of patience is thrown out just like that by few. I feel sad about the whole situation.
RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by Superman on Jul 25, 2008 12:59 AM Permalink
It is more important to be a social democrat in todays scenario than a Stalinist what Prakash Karat is. It is not one way traffic. Somnath gave back CPM more than what he got from the party. He gave the party a respectable, suave face. For 30 years, he was the face of CPM in the parliament. He is among the only few in CPM, who can speak English and Hindi properly without stumbling. Other speakers of CPM are pathetic. They gurgle, mumble, put verb in front of the sentence and make mockery of logic. But Somnath is altogether a different class. What Indrajit Gupta did for CPI, Somnath did the same for CPM....he won 10 loksabha elections, more than the members of the CPM politbureau combined. "Loyalty towards the party" does not mean one has to toe baseless proposition of Karat...Somnath is definitely loyal....he made no anti-party activities in last 40 years...Now "dedicated communist" is a term more pejorative....it means one who took communist theories without questions...and soon follow it like a dogma....An eminent barrister like Somnath can never be a fool like Biman, Buddha, Prakash, VS or Pinarai to follow something without questioning the validity of it. When the whole communist party has become an outdated Tamasha, act of Somnath showed a future for the party...hopefully it will inspire the future generation of the party to eschew Stalinistic ideal and follow the apth of social democracy like a true patriot.
RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by Anil Bharali on Jul 25, 2008 01:29 AM Permalink
Stalinistic style is not fit for parliamentry democracy that is for prolitariate dictatorship.
RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by Soumitree Ghose on Jul 25, 2008 05:13 AM Permalink
Well...u need to brush up ur basics. he did swear to abide by the CPM rulebook - not the karat rulebook! when all parties -including his own - had elected him as the speaker, the speaker's chair becomes a non-partisan impartial position without party affiliations! asking him to step down just because his party has withdrawn support is like a little kid taking away his bat & ball from the game just because he himself got out! and dude...when somnath joined the party ranks & the stature that he enjoys -or rather enjoyed in the party - karat just saw a glimpse of it from the last elections! karat was stil wiping his nose with a wimpy cloth during the time somnath was an authority in da party...so much for 'party rules'!!
RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by palash ghosh on Jul 25, 2008 06:09 AM Permalink
what is you point mam. What is Karat rulebook. He was kicked out by the party not the General Secretary. ANother garbage bin Subhas Chakraborty also needs to be kicked out
RE:Somnath's advocacy for sticking to Speaker's chair
by Vinay Gupta on Jul 25, 2008 06:36 AM Permalink
Ghosh, though I am not even a remote supporter of left but I agree with u that somath is kicked out by party and not by Karat.
But most of the idiots cannot understand it ecause they think in the same way as feudal Congress think. They cannot understand the working of a cadre based party. They have been brought in Dynasty rule so cannot appreciate your view point
