The day after, a flurry of expulsions
CPM shows the door to Somnath Chatterjee
New Delhi, July 23
In the political memory of our times, this parting may well register as the most bitter. It came gradually, with dirty trailers being played out in the open ever since the Left withdrew support to the UPA government over the N-deal. The CPM, on whose ticket Somnath Chatterjee contested and won 10 Lok Sabha elections, expected the comrade to resign as Speaker of the Lok Sabha, on moral grounds.

Nation page: Congress bats for Somnath
CPM’s most articulate face
To go or not to go is Speaker’s will

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee at Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s birth anniversary celebrations in the Central Hall of Parliament on Wednesday. — PTI

BJP expels eight MPs
New Delhi, July 23
As it became evident that members from the opposition benches in dozens voted for the government in Parliament yesterday, their respective parties moved fast to expel them for defying the party whip.

Libra removed from party, hits back at Sukhbir Badal
Chandigarh, July 23
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today removed member of Parliament (MP) Sukhdev Singh Libra from primary membership of the party. SAD secretary Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, said Libra had been removed for betraying the party at a crucial moment of voting in Lok Sabha. “The MP had betrayed the SAD”, he added.

Govt not to demolish Ram Setu New Delhi, July 23 The chances of Ram Setu being spared brightened today when, reacting to the Supreme Court suggestion, the Union government agreed to take an alternative route while completing the Setusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP). A Bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices R.V. Raveendran and J.M. Panchal suggested senior counsel F.S. Nariman appearing for the Union of India (UoI) that the government should do some balancing act between faith and biosphere and must not hurt the former even if a little damage was caused to the latter.