Somnath will take his own decision, says Left

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will take his own decision on whether to resign from the post in the wake of Left parties withdrawing support to the UPA government.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will take his own decision on whether to resign from the post in the wake of Left parties withdrawing support to the UPA government, CPI-M General Secretary Prakash Karat said on Wednesday.

“I am sure the Speaker will decide on his own taking into account all the circumstances,” he said when asked whether Chatterjee would put in his papers.

Asked whether his name figured in the letter, containing a list of CPM MPs, which was handed over to the President by the party in connection with withdrawal of support, Karat said “the list contains the names of all our MPs who have been elected to the Lok Sabha.”

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Former Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi said the CPI(M) had left no choice for Chatterjee but to quit his post.

“The CPI(M) has left no alternative for Chatterjee as it has given his name to the President as one of its members withdrawing support to the government,” the Shiv Sena leader told reporters in New Delhi.

Joshi was the Speaker when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led led NDA government was in office.