None of his erstwhile party colleagues were present as the controversial memoirs of former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee,Keeping the Faith,were released here on Saturday. However,he may have drawn consolation from the fact that not only did Prime Minister Manmohan Singh make it a point to attend,so did UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi,along with Speaker Meira Kumar. Other notable absentees were senior leaders of the NDA. The PM talked of the role played by Chatterjee as a Speaker,when he went against the diktat of the CPM during the n-deal debate,refusing to step down and discharging his constitutional duties instead. Singh spoke of the remarkable keeping of faith by the author,as he rose above his party and ideology to do what is right. May the tribe increase. Not only does Singh share a personal equation with the veteran leader,it was Chatterjees father,the late N C Chatterjee,who had delivered the convocation address and awarded the PM his bachelors degree at his university six decades ago. Perhaps aware of the tone of the chapter in Chatterjees book where he makes scathing references to economic reforms introduced when he was the finance minister,the PM referred to the Chatterjees version as his view from a particular perspective and also underlined other divergences with Chatterjees worldview as a leftist. Speaker Meira Kumar said Chatterjees book was on her table,where I keep my reference books,dictionary and other books on parliamentary procedures. While Chatterjee refrained from another round of Left-bashing,he did manage to get a titter running through the audience when he talked of his gratitude towards the CPI(Marxist) for giving him the ticket 11 times. But later they perhaps found me unsuitable,and that is why I have never questioned the decision,as rules permit me to do.
