The New Nation - Internet Edition

PTI, New Delhi

A defiant Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee was yesterday expelled by CPM in the wake of his refusal to quit the post in line with the directive of the party with which he was associated for four decades.

"The Politburo of the CPM has unanimously decided to expel Somnath Chatterjee from the membership of the party with immediate effect," a Politburo statement said after its meeting chaired by General Secretary Prakash Karat, that discussed his defiance ever since the party withdrew support to the UPA government.

The party invoked Article 19 (13) of its constitution to expel him under summary procedures without any notice on the charge of "seriously compromising" the party position.

The 79-year old barrister and ten-time MP, Chatterjee rejected both subtle and explicit hints from the party leadership, which asked him to quit the post to which he was elected unanimously after the 2004 elections, saying he was above party politics given the post he held.

In the last fortnight he had been maintaining that he would take an appropriate decision, but it became increasingly clear that he was not going to oblige the party diktat. Even

on Wednesday he maintained he may be going to Kuala Lumpur for a Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference early next month.

The party hoped that Chatterjee, who was leader of its Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha for some time, would quit before the confidence vote on Monday, but he went ahead and presided over the proceedings of the two-day Special Session that ended on Tuesday.

After persuasion by CPM patriarch Jyoti Basu and others failed, the party is understood to have deputed one of its senior leaders Biman Bose to tell him that he give up the post in the light of the changed situation.

Meanwhile, Somnath Chatterjee yesterday declined to comment on the CPI(M) decision to expel him from the party.

BJP expels 8 MPs

Cracking the whip on MPs who defied the party in Parliament, the BJP yesterday expelled eight Lok Sabha members, who bailed out the UPA government either by cross-voting or remaining absent during voting in the confidence motion.

"We have expelled eight MPs who either cross-voted or abstained during the trust vote," BJP president Rajnath Singh told reporters here after a meeting of senior party leaders at Leader of Opposition L K Advani's residence.

While four MPs were expelled for voting in favour of the government in the trust vote in Lok Sabha last night, four others faced the action for remaining absent.

The expelled Lok Sabha members are Brijbhushan Sharan Singh (Balrampur), Manjunath (Dharwad), Chandrabhan Singh (Damoh), H T Sangliana (Bangalore North), Manorama (Udipi), Haribhav Madhav (Jalgaon), Babubhai Katara (Dohad) and Somabhai Patel (Surendranagar).

"But for cross-voting and abstentions, the UPA would not have won. This government was formed with the help of tainted people who were included in the ministrytThis is a tainted victory," Advani said. PTI

Stung by violation of party directives in the confidence motion, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu yesterday expelled his party MP M Jagannatham for defying the whip and voting in favour of the UPA government.

The party was also seeking an explanation from another party MP, Adikesavulu, for indiscipline, said Naidu, who played a key role in stitching new alliances against the government.

"We are expelling Jagannatham from the party. Since there was some confusion about the voting of Adikesavulu, we are seeking explanation from him. I am verifying reports about his voting, if he has also violated the whip, he will also be expelled," he told reporters here.

Questioning why so many Central ministers had approached Adikesavulu, elected from Chittoor, during the voting process, Naidu alleged that there was also pressure on the member from the Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy.

Asked whether money was offered to lure Jagannatham, who was elected from Nagarkurnool in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu said, "you have to verify from him. For 13 years he was a member of the party. This way of behaving only showed greediness".

Accusing the Congress of pursuing "dirty politics", the former Chief Minister said the trust vote was a "big farce, bad for democracy and shameful to the nation".

He said 21 members of the House who cross-voted on Tuesday were liable to be disqualified.