SPEAKER GETS THE BOOT.....

NEW DELHI: CPM on Wednesday expelled Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the party on the ground of "seriously compromising" its position.

"The politburo of the CPM has unanimously decided to expel Somnath Chatterjee from the membership of the party with immediate effect," a party statement said after a meeting of its politburo.

"This action has been taken under Article 19 (13) of the party constitution for seriously compromising the party position," it said.

Among those who attended the politburo meeting were general secretary Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, M K Pandhe, S R Pillai and Brinda Karat.

Chatterjee had been under pressure to quit the constitutional post after the four left parties withdrew support to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government following their differences over the India-US nuclear deal.

However, the 79-year-old veteran parliamentarian refused to toe the party line and steered the House during the crucial session on Monday and Tuesday in which the government proved its majority.