Somnath rallies for comrade Halim as Commonwealth Parliament Chair

Even AS the corridors of power are abuzz with the fallout of the elections in Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is busy with an election of a different kind. He is working hard to get comrade Hashim Abdul Halim, the Speaker of West Bengal Assembly, elected as chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association .

Traditionally, it is the Lok Sabha Speaker who becomes the country’s candidate for the CPA chair. But Chatterjee feels that Halim is a better candidate, given his vast experience as the longest serving Speaker in a legislative body in all of the Commonwealth. Halim, who is CPA Vice-Chairman at the moment, has been the Speaker of WB Assembly since 1982.

Sources say, Chatterjee has already roped in External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and MEA Secretary Shyam Sharan to swing the election in Halim’s favour. It is learnt that the Speaker invited Singh and Sharan to his residence last Thursday to formally introduce Halim.

Story continues below this ad

Singh is said to have promised all help and volunteered to talk to some of the countries to garner support for Halim.

Not stopping at that, Chatterjee has himself written to several commonwealth countries to ensure that Halim is elected unopposed, the sources add.

Given that elections to the executive committee of the 51st CPA will be held in Fiji in September, Chatterjee has begun his campaigning quite early.