Will Harivansh meet Somnath Chatterjee's fate?

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, May 30

With the Janata Dal United on Monday slamming Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh for attending the inauguration of the new Parliament complex despite the party's official line to boycott it, political circles are abuzz with whether the JDU MP would meet the similar fate as late Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

The CPM had expelled Chatterjee for refusing to step down as Speaker following the left party's withdrawal of support to the Congress led UPA over the Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008.

Chatterjee decided to see the trust vote in Lok Sabha through ignoring the CPM diktat to step down before a two day special session of the Lok Sabha in July 2008.

A month later, Chatterjee, a 10-time MP, was expelled from CPM for "seriously compromising the party position."

A sense of deja vu returned with the JDU in a strongly worded statement criticising Harivansh for disregarding the party line on boycotting the inauguration of new Parliament House by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The party had sent you to Rajya Sabha in recognition of your contributions to journalism. But when a dark chapter in the history of parliamentary democracy in the country was being written, you traded your intellectual integrity for your high office", JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said on Harivansh.

The JD(U) spokesperson added that it was for the top brass of the party to decide what action to take against Harivansh in view of his attendance at the event.

"Future generations will decide what to make of your actions, which are unbecoming of a person of your stature," Neeraj Kumar said in a statement.

Harivansh, a JDU MP has been serving as Rajya Sabha deputy chairman since 2018 and is into his second term which ends in 2024.

Not only did Harivansh attend the inauguration on Sunday, he showered praises on PM Modi saying, "PM Modi's leadership and unprecedented efforts realised the dream of MPs who had been demanding a new Parliament for long. The PM prepared a future ready Parliament in a record time of less than 2.5 years."

Harivansh also read out congratulatory messages from President Droupadi Murmu and Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

The JDU and the BJP have been daggers drawn in Bihar ever since JDU quit the ruling NDA alliance last year to join Mahagathbandhan with the RJD and Congress in Bihar.

State chief minister Nitish Kumar, top JDU leader, is not working to unite the opposition for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Very recently, former JDU chief RCP Singh had joined the BJP.

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