Speaker gets his tongue back

Somnath Chatterjee had once lamented that after becoming Speaker he hardly spoke in Parliament: “Now I only use two sentences: ‘Please go back to your seat’ and ‘Please sit down!’”. If you have watched Lok Sabha proceedings, you would understand his exasperation. But like a good headmaster facing unruly schoolkids, Chatterjee spiritedly persisted in his attempts at managing rowdy parliamentarians. Now the distinguished advocate and parliamentarian once famed for his perceptive speeches has got his tongue back and has given us a personal account of his times in his autobiography, Keeping the Faith.

Contaminated by media hype, I expected it to be a tell-all book about his expulsion from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which he had served diligently for four decades. Happily, the book is not about that. He has one chapter on it, 18 pages in an almost 400-page book. Even more happily, that chapter does not disappoint.

This is Chatterjee’s story of the politics of his times. It starts with his father N.C. Chatterjee’s college days, curves through his success as a lawyer and parliamentarian, sweeps through Somnath Chatterjee’s own childhood and youth, his training at the Bar in Cambridge, England, and his joining politics. We get glimpses of his family life in the brief, matter-of-fact way that comrades admit to having families.

Full report here Deccan Chronicle

A self-serving account

Somnath Chatterjee served as a member of the Indian Parliament for most of the period from 1971 to 2009, having been elected on the Communist Party of India (Marxist) symbol every time. It was on the basis of an understanding between the CPI (M) and the United Progressive Alliance in 2004 that he was elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Five years later, he has, in his autobiography titled Keeping the Faith, vented his ire on the party that nurtured him and was instrumental in his holding the constitutional post that he so obviously relished. But that is not the real problem with his self-serving account. It is his tirade against Prakash Karat, the General Secretary of the CPI(M), that is in poor taste, subjective, and over the top.

DETAILED
In a long parliamentary career, Chatterjee made several speeches in Parliament, some of which have been reproduced in this book. He spoke forcefully against communalism and the tragic happenings in Ayodhya in 1992 and Gujarat in 2002. He was sharply critical — and rightly so — of the infamous Emergency regime of 1975-77 and of the authoritarian tendencies of the Congress party. As Speaker, he introduced measures intended to enhance the visibility of Parliament and improve the efficiency of its functioning. Chatterjee's parliamentary contributions do merit appreciation. Chatterjee is very conscious of his contributions, especially as the Speaker, and treats the reader to detailed accounts of practically each and every one of them. In a book of about 400 pages, appendices take away nearly 140 , with his speeches in Parliament occupying most of this space. One can take a generous view of all this as being appropriate in an autobiography. It is in his treatment of the events (inside and outside Parliament) related to the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal and the vote of confidence the UPA government sought in 2008 that Chatterjee becomes enormously subjective and departs from even elementary norms of courtesy and civil language.

Full report here Hindu

PM unveils Somnath's memoir, lavishes praise

PM Manmohan Singh returned compliments to former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, after the expelled CPM veteran praised the PM graciously in his autobiography that was released by Singh in Delhi on Saturday, August 21.

Speaking at the release function, Singh observed that Chatterjee's "finest hour in his long and distinguished political career was as the Speaker of Lok Sabha," adding that Chatterjee had "risen above his party and his ideology to do what he believes is right".

Singh was referring to Chatterjee's decision not to step down from the chair when his party demanded that following the Left's decision to pull out of UPA-I over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Contrary opinions should not be ignored if challenges have to be met in the process of national development, he said, while releasing "Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian," published by HarperCollins India. Maintaining that the country has shown the capacity and resilience to overcome trials and tribulations, the PM said "we have withstood serious challenges on the economic and security front and even emerged stronger afterwards".

Full report here Times of India 

Please think of the country: Somnath

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has called upon all intelligent and articulate young people not to repeat what a bright young woman had told him decades ago: "I would want to be anything but a politician." "Please think of the country. Nothing is more important," Chatterjee advised the new generation, making a pitch to them to get active in politics.

He was speaking after the release of his book, Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian (HarperCollins India), by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in Delhi on Saturday, August 21 evening.

Chatterjee did not disappoint the capacity audience, which included UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Speaking on his relations with the CPM, which had expelled him from the party after he had refused to toe its line on the confidence motion tabled by the government in the last Lok Sabha, he said: " I thank the CPM for making me their candidate in 11 elections.

But when the party found that I had become unsuitable, I never questioned them, I never filed an appeal to review ( the decision)." The Prime Minister, in his speech, acknowledged the grace with which Chatterjee scripted his political journey.

Full report here India Today

Somnath book heaps praise on Sonia, PM

Brickbats for his former comrades and bouquets for rivals. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's tell-all has infuriated the CPM leadership for his harsh criticism of the way he was expelled, but what could enrage Prakash Karat and Co further is his praise for leaders of other parties, especially the Congress leadership of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Chatterjee has devoted a whole chapter of his autobiography, Keeping The Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian  to ‘Colleagues And Comrades' in which he talks about, among others, BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Jaswant Singh, and JD(U) leader George Fernandes as fellow travellers in politics. The much awaited book, published by HarperCollins India, is scheduled for release on August 21 in New Delhi by the PM, seen as the man behind the Indo-US nuclear deal. Chatterjee was expelled from CPM in July 2008 for defying the party whip and refusing to vote in the nuclear-deal debate in Parliament.

Interestingly, he deals little with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who first came to the limelight by defeating Chatterjee in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. The former Speaker mentions an episode in Lok Sabha involving Mamata, when she had flung a bunch of papers at the chair. But he refers to her repeatedly as "a member" without naming her even once.

Full report here Times of India 

Chatterjee makes false assertions in book: CPI-M

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Monday said former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee's allegation that "disastrous" policies and "misguided" actions of the current leadership led to poll debacles was a view expressed by "a person who defected to the ruling etablishment".

The CPI-M said Chatterjee has made "a number of false assertions" in his forthcoming book ("Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a Parliamentarian"). The veteran parliamentary was expelled by the party in July 2008, after he refused to resign as Lok Sabha speaker.

"It is totally wrong to say that five members of the politburo decided to expel him the day after the trust vote session of the Lok Sabha was held," the CPI-M said in a statement in New Delhi.

Chatterjee has attacked CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat and the Left party's leadership in his book to be released later this month. Explaining the circumstances under which Chatterjee was expelled, the CPI-M said "the decision to take disciplinary action against Chatterjee was taken at a pull Politburo meeting held July 19, 2008".

Full report here Hindustan Times