Former Lok Sabha Speaker and veteran communist leader, Somnath Chatterjee, passed away at the age of 89 in Kolkata today morning following multiple organ failure. He received 21 gun salute and his body is going to be donated for medical research in Kolkata’s SSKM Hospital.
He was accepted to a private hospital for kidney-related ailment. His condition deteriorated on Sunday after he suffered a mild heart attack.
Lok Sabha Speaker from 2004 to 2009, Mr Chatterjee was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for 40 years since 1968, represented the party 10 times in parliament, and was acknowledged as one of its most brilliant ever.
He owed his oratorical skills to his training in England. After completing a Masters in Law at Cambridge University, he was called to the bar from Middle Temple in London.
Last month, the former speaker had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke.
He was under treatment for the past 40 days and was discharged from the hospital just for three days after his health showed signs of improvement.
Calling him a stalwart of Indian politics, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, said, “He made our Parliamentary democracy richer and was a strong voice for the well-being of the poor and vulnerable. Anguished by his demise. My thoughts are with his family and supporters.”
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, while mourning the loss, said, “He was an institution. Greatly respected and admired by all parliamentarians, across party lines. My condolences to his family at this time of grief.” A 10-time Lok Sabha MP, Chatterjee was a central committee member of the CPI(M), which he had joined in 1968. He was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009 during the UPA-I regime.
It is sad to hear of the passing of Shri Somnath Chatterjee. A loss for public life in Bengal and India. My condolences to his family and innumerable well-wishers . The President of India Ram Nath Kovind tweeted:
“The Communist Party general secretary Sitaram Yechury says “the mortal remains will be kept at the party office where last respects will be paid to him.”
Mr. Yechury tweeted, “Deeply mourn the passing away of Somnath da: our former Speaker of the Lok Sabha & 10 times-elected MP. Heartfelt condolences to his family”.
Current Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, in a tearful tribute, says Mr. Chatterjee was like a “elder brother” to her:
“Our ideology was different but still, from the time I entered Parliament in ’89, I used to see how he used to raise issues while following every rule. His tenure as a Speaker was a guidance for me.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says: “Saddened at the passing away of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath (Da) Chatterjee. My condolences to his family and admirers. This is a great loss for us all”.
He was expelled by the CPI(M) for not quitting as Speaker after the party withdrew support from the UPA-I over the Indo-US nuclear deal. He lost only one election in his lifetime — to Mamata Banerjee from the Jadavpur constituency in 1984.
In 2008, he did something even his friend Jyoti Basu did not. He defied the party dictate. When the CPM withdrew support to the UPA-I government, the party ordered Mr Chatterjee to step down from being a Lok Sabha Speaker so he could vote against the government.
Mr Chatterjee did not. He contended that as Speaker, he was above party politics.If he quit because the CPM told him to, the integrity of the Speaker’s independent stature would be compromised.
He was expelled by the CPM. Somnath Chatterjee held his silence initially. But finally spoke out to say “that was the saddest day of my life”.
His expulsion had caused differences within the party. Many wanted him brought back. As he was laying in critical condition in the hospital, there were demands within the party that he should be given membership of the party once again. The demand has been reflected on social media, too by supporters of the party.
Somnath Chatterjee’s family on Monday turned down the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership’s request to drape the expelled member’s body in a red flag and allow him to be taken to the party’s West Bengal headquarters in Kolkata and even barred one of the leaders from entering his house.
“The CPM had requested us that they want to take the body to the state headquarters for partymen to pay their respects. But we said we don’t want that. The party had requested that they wanted to drape the body in a red flag. We refused,” Chatterjee’s daughter, Anushila Basu, told to the Indian Media.
He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
> Pratyusha Mukherjee
