To quit or not: Speaker yet to decide

Share:

July 14, 2008 12:08 IST

Notwithstanding party pressure, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has said that he has not taken a decision yet whether to resign the Constitutional post.

"I have not taken a decision. When I decide I will certainly let you know. I request the media not to enter into speculation about the Speaker's post,' he said when asked for his comments after his meeting with CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu on Sunday.

During the meeting, Basu is understood to have counselled 79-year-old parliamentary veteran to toe the party line to present a united face on the issue which implies that he quit the post.

Chatterjee, however, described his meeting with Basu as personal when he discussed family matters.

He dismissed as a "figment of imagination" reports that he would vote for the government during the confidence vote on July 22.

Chatterjee has come under pressure from his party CPI(M) to quit the post ever since the Left parties withdrew their support to the government last week.

Basu is believed to have been requested by the party to persuade Chatterjee, who is apparently not too keen on stepping down. 

Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Share: