Sources have said that the Congress wants Somnath Chatterjee to stay on as the Speaker of the house, whereas, the Left is still gunning for his resignation.

Congress leader and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee conveyed this sentiment to veteran leader Jyoti Basu on Sunday when he met him ahead of Basu’s meeting with Somnath.

The Congress leader also met with the Speaker on Friday. That was the same day when CPM general secretary Prakash Karat had said that the speaker should quit his post and subsequently Politburo members were roped in to request Basu to persuade the speaker to step down.

Even after the meeting on Sunday, Somnath appears reluctant to quit as Speaker and no final decision has been taken yet.

Sources have said that the resignation is unlikely to come on Monday.

There is much intrigue and various stories doing the round in the political circles.