July 16: Fuming but befuddled, the CPM leadership is thinking of denouncing Somnath Chatterjee at the central committee meeting this weekend if he does not step down as Speaker by then, sources said today.

Chatterjee, however, betrayed little sign of giving up his post before the trust vote on July 22. “It’s a million-dollar question what I will do on July 22,” he told Times Now television on board a flight to Hyderabad.

The CPM central committee is scheduled to meet in Delhi on July 19 and 20. The sources said that if the defiance continued, the party would be left with “little option” but to “denounce” Chatterjee.

The careful choice of words — “denunciation” — lays bare the dilemma of the party in deploying the usual disciplinary measures on the veteran who has become an unlikely tormentor of Prakash Karat. The party usually showcauses a member accused of flouting discipline, suspends the person if no satisfactory reply is furnished and sometimes pulls the expulsion trigger.

But in the case of Chatterjee, such measures are certain to ignite an outcry in the party with the potential to provide an outlet to the discontent about voting along with the BJP on the trust motion.

Besides, the CPM will find it difficult to formally charge Chatterjee with indiscipline as the party had been claiming in public the Speaker was free to take his own decision, though privately it has been piling pressure on him to quit.

If the CPM decides on denunciation, it could accuse Chatterjee of not taking into account “the political situation” — a euphemism for the need to topple the government, even if it means voting along with the BJP.

Somnath Chatterjee

But the sources said the CPM leadership was still hopeful of a solution. The party’s best option — Chatterjee recanting — looks unlikely.

Two other options are unpalatable to the party: if Chatterjee presides over the trust motion and then resigns — a possible option — it is of no use to the CPM. If he resigns as Speaker before the vote, he is likely to quit as MP also, which will be a bigger embarrassment to the party.

CPM central committee leader Mohammad Salim said it “would have been better if the party had discussed” with Chatterjee before including his name in the list.

CPM sources claimed that the party had given Chatterjee a long rope, including a statement today by politburo member Sitaram Yechury.

The statement, apparently issued to clarify reports attributed to Yechury, virtually admitted an oversight on a technical ground. “What I had said is that the Speaker’s name should be included in the CPI(M) list as he was elected as a CPI(M) candidate but with an asterisk denoting that he is the Lok Sabha Speaker, as is the normal parliamentary practice,” Yechury’s statement said.

The statement prompted sections of the party to split hairs to establish whether it represented a climbdown or a hardening of stand.

“It’s virtually a public apology on behalf of the leadership. Now we hope that Somnathda, being a large-hearted person, will no more stick to his position as he has already succeeded in making a point,” a party leader said.

But others said Yechury’s statement subtly asserted the party’s right to enlist Chatterjee as a voter in the House.