Somnath ends silence, says he is not quitting

Breaking his silence, Somnath Chatterjee on Friday ruled out quitting as Lok Sabha Speaker and hit out at CPI-M for demanding his resignation saying it cannot give any direction to him in his Constitutional office. He also called July 23, the day of his expulsion from CPI-M, as "one of the saddest day of his life". He contended that the party could not direct him to resign as it would "seriously compromise" the Constitutional position of the Speaker.