The expulsion of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the Communist Party of India-Marxist for defying the party diktat to step down ends on a bitter note the political journey of a man who was the Marxist outfit’s most articulate face with liberal views in Parliament for nearly four decades. It is surprising though to see the disciplinary action against someone, who was elected to the Lok Sabha 10 times on the party ticket beginning in 1971 and led the CPI-M parliamentary party for decades. Indeed it must have come as an unnerving experience for a cadre-based party. While Chatterjee’s expulsion was in the offing after he refused to toe the party line of stepping down as speaker ahead of the trust vote, it was not the first time that the man, whose deep baritone voice, argumentative skill of the lawyer that he is and clarity on issues that has left a mark in the Lok Sabha, had differed with the party’s official line
Farzana Nigar
Ranchi