Somnathbabu has become our hero for the strong stand he has taken against the party. But his party has become the villain in the perception of our community. Till now, we used to think they are secular. The mask has now fallen,” said an angry Muhammed Mohsin, the middle-aged headmaster of Chunpalasi High school in Illambazar that falls in Somnath Chatterjee’s Lok Sabha constituency of Bolpur. Chatterjee’s contribution of Rs two lakh from the MP fund helped the school building come up in 2001.

As the fate of the UPA Government hangs in the balance with Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee occupying centerstage, the fallout of the developments in Delhi have touched this far-away constituency in a big way. Chatterjee’s popularity has soared while that of the party has evidently nosedived. Voters have begun questioning the CPI(M)’s secular credentials.

After being defeated by Mamata Banerjee in Jadavpur constituency in 1984, Chatterjee switched to Bolpur where he defeated former Congress CM Siddhartha Shankar Ray in 1985, after the death of the sitting MP. Bolpur has returned him to the Lok Sabha in every election since then. If Chatterjee’s words are any indication, he is going to call it a day and would not enter the electoral arena any more.

“Ever since he became the Speaker, he stopped visiting the party office in Bolpur; not only in Bolpur, but elsewhere too, on principle,” said Chatterjee’s pointsman in Bolpur CPI(M) party office, Hirendranath Ghosh.

Ghosh went on to add, “He had become the Speaker by unanimous choice, not as a CPI(M) MP. I am all for party diktats, but people’s sentiments should be respected as well.”

... contd.