Somnath Chatterjee

New Delhi, Oct. 30: The BJP today termed Somnath Chatterjee?s visit to the CPM office to meet party colleagues a ?gross impropriety?, unmindful of similar transgressions by earlier Lok Sabha Speakers Manohar Joshi and G.M.C. Balayogi.

Chatterjee had gone to the CPM office in New Delhi to meet party members attending the central committee meeting.

?There has been an age-old practice of Speakers not attending party meetings. This is based on a good convention that the Speaker belongs to the whole House and not to any particular party,? said BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley.

?Several Speakers such as Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy and G.S. Dhillon, in fact, resigned from their parties. The present Speaker, unmindful of this healthy convention, has broken this convention and attended his party meeting,? Jaitley said.

?Visiting party offices and then opening this speculation of a partisan role does not do credit to the office of Speaker. He could invite his friends to his residence,? asserted the BJP leader, when reminded that the Speaker had said last night that he had not attended any meeting and had gone to the party office only to meet friends.

?We are not interested in making an issue against the Speaker but at the same time we are concerned about the brazenness with which age-old conventions are broken. We do hope that Speakers in future take note of this,? he said.

Sources close to the Speaker, however, pointed out that while Balayogi had attended politburo meetings of the Telugu Desam Party even after becoming Speaker, Joshi had said openly that he was proud to be a remote control of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray. Joshi had kept three portraits of Thackeray in his official residence.

?Joshi regularly attended all Sena meetings and programmes and there was not a murmur of protest from the BJP,? said a source.

?Joshi, a former Speaker, had degraded the office of Speaker by standing next to Thackeray and slapping the effigy of Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar with chappals, a photograph of which was published in most newspapers,? he said.

?Somnathji had gone there to meet his old friends as it was difficult to invite 70-80 central committee members to his residence. And talking to media he had said yesterday that his neutrality should be judged by his conduct when he was in the chair,? the source said.

Unmindful of the tenure of former Lok Sabha Speakers Manohar Joshi and G.M.C. Balayogi, the BJP today strongly objected to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee visiting the CPM office to meet party colleagues attending the central committee meeting terming it a ?gross impropriety.?

Party general secretary Arun Jaitley said ?there has been an age-old practice of Speakers not attending party meetings. This is based on a good convention that the Speaker belongs to the while House and not to any particular party. Several Speakers such as Neelam Sanjiv Reddy and G.S. Dhillon in fact resigned from their parties. The present Speaker, unmindful of this healthy convention, has broken this convention and attended his party meeting.?

When reminded that the Speaker had said last night that he did not attend any meeting and that he went to the party office only to meet his friends, Jaitley said ?visiting party offices and then opening this speculation of a partisan role does not do credit to the office of Speaker. He could invite his friends to his residence.?

We are not interested in making an issue against the Speaker but at the same time we are concerned about the brazenness in which age-old conventions are broken, he said adding ?we do hope that Speakers in future take note of this.?

Countering the BJP, sources close to the Speaker said while late Balayogi had attended politburo meetings of Telugu Desam Party even after becoming Speaker, Manohar Joshi had said openly that he is proud to be a remote control of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray. Joshi had in fact kept three portraits of Thackeray in his official residence. ?Joshi regularly attended all Sena meetings and programmes and there was not a murmur of protest from the BJP now talking about conventions and ethics,? said a source.

Joshi, a former Speaker, had degraded the office of Speaker by standing next to Thackeray and slapping the effigy of union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar with chappals, a photograph of which was published in most newspapers,? he said.

Somnathji had gone their to meet his old friends as it was difficult to invite 70-80 central committee members to his residence. And talking to media he had said yesterday that ?his neutrality should be judged by his conduct when he was in the chair.?