New Delhi, June 3
Backed by the NDA, CPM stalwart Somnath Chatterjee would be the first Communist leader to be unanimously elected Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha.
Mr Chatterjee’s candidature for the office of the Speaker won widespread support from all sections of the House as his was the only nomination when the deadline for filing ended at noon here today.
No less that 18 sets of nomination papers were filed favouring Mr Chatterjee by leaders across the political spectrum, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani and Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
The election of Mr Chatterjee as the Speaker scheduled for tomorrow is now a formality.
Expectedly, the UPA has offered the Deputy Speaker’s post to the NDA in keeping with the general practice and precedence.
An elated Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told mediapersons that every political party encompassing the who’s who of the Lok Sabha supported Mr Chatterjee’s candidature. He said it was a tribute to the CPM leader’s “able leadership, statesmanship and experience.”
Mr Azad thanked all political parties for supporting Mr Chatterjee’s elevation as Speaker.
Even though the Congress had offered the Speaker’s post to Mr Chatterjee, the CPM went through the motions of its politburo and central committee meetings whether it should accept it or not. After intense deliberations the CPM decided to accept the Speaker’s post.
NDA’s backing Mr Chatterjee, a veteran parliamentarian and winner of the best Parliamentarian’s award, came after the UPA government held discussions with Mr Vajpayee, Mr L.K. Advani and NDA convener and former Union Defence Minister George Fernandes.
Mr Azad disclosed that Leader of the Lok Sabha and Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, RJD’s Laloo Prasad Yadav, JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar, SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav, BSP’s Mayawati, CPM’s Basudeb Acharya and Vasudevan Nair, CPI’s Ajoy Chakravarty, NC’s Omar Abdullah and Chandra Shekhar Rao of TRS were among others who supported Mr Chatterjee for the coveted post.
