New Delhi: Congress today (May 21, 2004) offered the post of Lok Sabha Speaker to veteran Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPM) leader Somnath Chatterjee, sources in the Marxist party said.

The offer is being considered by CPM, they said.

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Political Parties in India

Chatterjee, leader of CPM in Lok Sabha, met party general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet where the matter is understood to have come up for discussion.

The CPM has decided to stay out of Congress-led coalition Government and support it from outside.