Kolkata: CPI (M) patriarch Jyoti Basu did not react to the expulsion from the party of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for defying the party diktat to quit his
post.
“He will not give his reaction,” Basu's personal assistant J Ghosh said.
Asked if Basu was informed about the Politburo's decision to expel Chatterjee, Ghosh replied “may be.”
Chatterjee, who called on Basu at his Salt Lake residence a fortnight ago, was advised by the Marxist veteran to toe the party line following CPI (M)'s withdrawal of support to the Congress-led UPA government on the Indo-US nuke deal.
The Speaker had then said that he had a close interaction with Basu but maintained that he had not taken any decision to resign.
West Bengal Assembly Speaker H A Halim declined to comment on Chatterjee's expulsion. “No comment,” Halim said.
