NEW DELHI, 5 June 2004 — A perennial protester in Parliament, Somnath Chatterjee found his role reversed yesterday minutes after being sworn in as speaker of the Lok Sabha. Faced with bedlam in the house, he did what his predecessors did — adjourn the house.
The Marxist veteran was unanimously elected speaker in a rare show of unity in a fractious house that gave him a standing ovation.
By prearranged consensus, the house elected Somnath, 74, in a motion moved by chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and seconded by leader of the opposition Lal Krishna Advani.
Somnath, who studied at Cambridge University, was first elected to Parliament in 1971 and has been known for his stinging attacks on both Congress and Hindu fundamentalist governments, particularly on economic issues.
Soon after Somnath requested Manmohan to introduce his council of ministers to the Lok Sabha, Advani objected to the induction of tainted ministers.
“Never has it happened that tainted ministers were introduced in the Lok Sabha,” Advani said, prompting all MPs of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance to protest.
Ignoring the noisy protests, the prime minister pressed on with introducing his council of ministers.
Members on treasury benches tried to out-shout their opposition colleagues. They said the National Democratic Alliance fielded 78 candidates with criminal records in the April-May elections.
The ruling Congress party earlier said that opposition leaders should “do some soul searching.” Advani held the post of deputy prime minister in the previous government despite being charged in the Babri Masjid demolition case while George Fernandes remained in the federal Cabinet even as his role in defense purchases was being probed after a sting operation by tehelka.com, the party said.
In the house, Advani and other BJP members insisted that tainted ministers, including Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and Coal and Mines Minister Shibu Soren should be dropped from the government.
Despite the speaker’s request to Advani to resume his seat, he and other BJP MPs insisted that the tainted ministers, including Railway Minister Laloo Prasad and Coal and Mines Minister Shibu Soren, be dropped from the government.
The MPs stopped short of rushing to the area near the speaker’s chair. After failing to restore decorum, Somnath adjourned the house until Monday.
