Mr. Somnath Chatterjee’s contention that no responsible person or authority can treat the speaker as belonging to or extending support either to the government and its allies or to the opposition seems correct. The CPI(M) should not have asked him to vote against the Confidence Motion or resign his post. There is no doubt at all that he has safeguarded the Constitution of India by being an impartial speaker and thus saving the country from a serious political crisis. Kudos and thanks to him for his timely, bold and principled decision. The Left parties are no doubt good but in the present case they failed to take the interest of the country into consideration in the nuclear deal issue. Perhaps their age-long anti-American policy kept them under its spell giving no room for political manoeuvre and wisdom.
V.M. Khaleelur Rahman
Ambur