Left dares BJP to bring no-trust vote agnst Speaker

New Delhi, Aug 8: The Left parties today dared the BJP to bring a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee if the saffron party had lost its faith in the fairness and impartiality of the Chair.

Terming as '' direct insinuation and indirect suggestion'' to Mr Chatterjee to quit the office in the wake of veteran BJP leader and NDA Chairman Atal Bihari Vajpayee's letter to the Speaker today, the Left parties said the BJP's move had upset Mr Chatterjee to such an extent that he wanted to quit office.

At a news conference, the Left floor leaders, Basudev Achariya and Gurudas Dasgupta, said, ''If the BJP has the guts and decency, let it bring a vote of no-confidence against the Speaker, who is so upset with the tone and tenor of the Mr Vajpayee's letter that he wants to quit.'' ''But we have told Mr Chatterjee that he should not think of quitting as he is the elected Speaker of the House and enjoys the confidence of all parties,'' they said.

They regretted that it was never expected from Mr Vajpayee, one of the oldest politicians and parliamentarians of the country, that he would indulge in such a fascist attack on the office of the Speaker.

The Left leaders also challenged Mr Vajpayee's assertion that all sections of the NDA had questioned the fairness and impartiality of Mr Chatterjee.

''We are of the firm view that the saner and democratic elements in the NDA do not think that the Speaker is running the House on partisan lines.''