As the Communist Party of India - Marxist reportedly maintained pressure on Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to resign, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and two other party leaders met him on Tuesday and requested him not to quit the post.
Singh, who along with party MPs Ram Gopal Yadav and Akhilesh Singh Yadav met Chatterjee at his residence in New Delhi, said they had been sent by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was worried about rumours that the Speaker may quit.
"He (Yadav) sent us and we requested him to continue in office," Singh told reporters after the meeting.
"We had come to meet the Speaker and not a comrade. We told Chatterjee that he is not only with CPI-M but also with the Samajwadi Party and every other party, as the Speaker," Singh said, contending that the post of Speaker was above party politics.
The Congress has also apparently tried to reach out to Chatterjee and senior leader Murli Deora had met him on Monday evening.
Singh also complained to Chatterjee about alleged threats to SP MPs from the Bahujan Samaj Party.
"We have told the Speaker that the BSP has threatened to slap Prevention of Terrorism Act on our MP Akshay Pratap Singh if he supported the UPA government," Singh said.
Akshay Pratap Singh was charged under POTA earlier, along with his cousin Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya, by Mayawati during her earlier tenure as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
The SP leader said that the Speaker has promised to look into the matter.
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