While state Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty's demand for the re-induction of Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has set off a debate in the party with many senior leaders echoing similar sentiments, the Speaker himself refused to be drawn into the issue.

Feigning ignorance about any such move, Chatterjee said, "I just read about in newspapers. Nobody told me anything about this." "I did not call for a review or reconsideration of the decision of the party, which took the step after consideration. They have a right to take a decision."

Meanwhile, top CPM leaders have reacted to Chakraborty's remarks ¿ the sports minister reiterated his demand on Tuesday ¿ saying there was no such proposal. "There is no such proposal before us and we have not discussed it in the Central Committee," senior Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri said.

Chakraborty recently wrote a letter to state party secretary Biman Bose explaining Chatterjee's need for the party. But sources said the letter was not forwarded to the party's Central Committee, which had ratified general secretary Prakash Karat's decision for the Speaker's expulsion.

Sources in the party said that according to party rule, such letters should be forwarded to the CC for discussion and a final decision. "But the Politburo members from the state -- Biman Bose, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Nirupam Sen -- do not want to pester Karat and others who were inflexible about Chatterjee's expulsion from the party," said a senior leader of the party. "Our state leaders are sitting on the letter for reasons unknown," said the leader.